


Toby's Wish

by HyborianQueen



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-12
Updated: 2013-04-22
Packaged: 2017-11-18 12:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 154,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/561279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyborianQueen/pseuds/HyborianQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Words can be more treacherous and powerful than we think.<br/>Nobody knew the truth behind those words better than Sarah Williams when she wished her baby brother away to the Goblin King.  Sarah never forgot the lessons she learned that night those many years ago. But some lessons that are excruciatingly learned by some are never taught to others. Toby never learned those lessons and now somebody is going to have to pay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter one

*Words are more treacherous and powerful than we think.  
-Jean Paul Sartre 

 

No family knows the truth behind those words quite like the Williams. Particularly the younger of the Williams, Sarah and her brother Toby.  
It all started sixteen years earlier when Sarah was fourteen and was left to babysit her squalling half brother Toby, who, at the time, was the helpless age of eighteen months. Sarah, in a fit of anger and frustration, wished her little brother away to Jareth, the Goblin King, ruler of the Labyrinth. When he came to take the babe, Sarah pleaded with him not to take him, but what’s said is said.   
Her first lesson was in the power of words.   
But the Goblin King was generous and offered Sarah her dreams in exchange for the simpering child. Tempted as she was, Sarah refused. Jareth then offered to let her run the Labyrinth in order to win him back but if she couldn’t reach the castle beyond the Goblin City in thirteen hours time, her baby brother would be forfeited and become a goblin forever.   
Her second lesson was in the consequences of words.   
So, through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, Sarah fought her way to the center of the labyrinth to save her brother. But Jareth wasn’t quite done with the heroine just yet. The Goblin King never was a graceful loser and tried to seduce her with masques and pretty words of devotion, all in an attempt to distract her from her quest. But despite all his temptations, Sarah managed to say the right words “you have no power over me” and defeated the Goblin King. He returned Sarah and her brother Toby home and retreated, screeching, into the darkness amidst feathers and glitter in his owl form.   
Her third lesson was in the redemption of words.  
Sarah never forgot the lessons she learned that night and was a doting and protective sister to the young Toby. Through the years, she nurtured and sheltered her brother, whom she fought so hard to save from the Goblin King’s clutches. Toby grew up basking in the affection and love of his older sister and as much as I would like to say that they grew into adulthood with mutual love and respect for one another and lived happily ever after, that is hardly ever the case. But, if that were to be the case, my story would be very short indeed. No, the story doesn’t end there. For some lessons, though bitterly learned by some, are for others left untaught. Some lessons, which ought never be neglected, have tendencies to lay by the wayside on the road to maturity. And sometimes, when lessons are neglected or forgotten, they have a way of coming back around to bite you in the end.

….And what no one knew is that the king of the goblins had fallen in love with the girl.


	2. Chapter 2

PART 1

An old beater of a station wagon turned into the middle school parking lot. It pulled up to a lone figure sitting on the sidewalk, helmet and pads lying dejectedly beside the troubled boy. He sat with his blonde head resting on his pulled up knees. This had to be the worst day of his young life.  
“How’d things go kiddo?” his father yelled out the passenger side window as he pulled next to his son. The twelve year old boy looked up with a dismal expression on his face. Without a word he picked up his gear and climbed into the car.  
“That good huh?” Roger Williams asked. Toby just looked over at his dad in the driver’s seat. There was a look of despair in his son’s eyes.  
“C’mon son, it couldn’t have been that bad.” He soothed.  
“Worse.” The blonde haired boy muttered. He tossed his gear into the back seat.  
“I only ran the plays so-so and the coach said that since there are only so many spots on the team he’s going to have to cut some of us.” He said with a timbre in his voice that gave away the fact that either he had been crying or was near doing so. It wasn’t fair! Intermediate football was a whole lot tougher then the elementary version! It wasn’t a ‘whoever shows up makes the team’ deal like in sixth grade. You had to compete for a spot to play. While he didn’t consider himself a slouch at the game, he didn’t have his best day today. There were other boys that played better than he did today. Particularly Todd Adams. Todd Adams was the other boy he was competing with for the quarterback position. Todd ran the plays with near perfection and Toby felt certain the position would go to him.  
“I’m sure it won’t come down to that.” His father assured him.  
Toby let out a frustrated sigh. Deep down he was sure he wouldn’t be cut from the team but if he didn’t get the quarterback position, what use would it be being on the team? The coach would put him in some do nothing position to play in mediocrity which would follow him into his high school years. No, Toby felt certain this was the end of the world.  
They drove the rest of the way home in silence, his father giving up on consoling his son. They pulled into the off white Victorian a little before five o’clock. Toby got out of the car and grabbed his equipment and trudged in the kitchen. His mother was cooking, what smelled like meatloaf, and turned as she heard them come in.  
“There’s my boys.” Karen Williams said. “How’d things go at the tryouts sweetie?”  
Toby groaned and snapped at his mother “God Mom, how many times do I have to tell you to quit calling me ‘Sweetie’? You make me sound like a baby!”  
His mother turned to give him a ‘what was that young man stare’ as his dad came in the door behind him. Toby slung his equipment bag over his shoulder and headed for the stairs.  
“Tobias David Williams, what did you just say?” He paused momentarily in his climb until he heard his dad shush his mom and explain about the ride home. Now he could add humiliation onto the pile of rejection he felt and stomped up the stairs and closed his bedroom door a little harder than usual.  
He tossed his football bag in the corner of his room next to his desk and flopped down on his bed. As he lied there, staring up at the ceiling with his hands tucked behind his head, he felt salty tears slip from his eyes. He let the disappointment of the day wash over him in waves and his tears slid down the side of his face trailing into his golden hair. Why did Todd Adams ever have to move to his school in the first place? It seems that whatever endeavor he tried, Todd was there to do it better. In class, if he got a B on a math test, Todd had to get an A. During gym class, if Toby made 9 baskets, Todd would make 10. And now Todd was going to take the coveted quarterback position from him as well. It just wasn’t fair.  
Toby stayed like this for twenty or thirty minutes, wallowing in his misery, until he heard the phone ring. He stifled his sniffling and listened closely as his mother answered the phone downstairs.  
“Hello?” he heard her say. A slight pause, “Oh Sarah, I’m so glad you called.” His heart skipped a beat then there was a short one sided conversation “Not too good, he’s really upset about the tryouts….. well, he’s upstairs in his room….. I’m sure he would like to talk to you.”  
“Toby!” he heard his mom yell from downstairs. “Sarah’s on the phone, would you like to talk to her?”  
“Okay!” he hollered back. He got up off his bed and wiped the wetness from his eyes and checks and came downstairs. He took the phone from his mom and placed the receiver up to his face.  
“Hello?” he said.  
“Hey Toby! How are things going Champ?” He felt his spirits lift, only slightly, when he heard Sarah on the other end. Sarah, who was twelve years his senior, was almost like a second mother to him. She would spend endless hours entertaining him when he was younger. She was the one who took him to the playground and let him stay up way past his bedtime when their parents went out on their dates. She would often sneak into his room after lights out and tell him fantastical stories of dwarves, and goblins and red creatures that could remove their heads and a huge maze called a Labyrinth and a young prince that was stolen by an evil king and the princess who saved him. Even when she went away to college, she would always come home for the weekends. Come home to him. He would wake up early on Saturday mornings to the smell of coffee and come downstairs to see his sister in the kitchen brewing a pot. She would smile at him and give him a hug and they would sit at the kitchen table and he would tell her all about his week, as she sat sipping her coffee, before their parents would get up. He always felt very close to his sister and confided everything to her. Even now that Sarah moved out of town on an internship, she would call him at least once a week to see how he was doing.  
“Not so hot Sis.” He sighed into the phone. Then he proceeded to tell her about his whole rotten day. Sarah quietly listened to all he had to say, never interrupting him until he had hashed out all his Todd issues. After he was all done, she spoke up.  
“You know Toby, when you were a lot younger, I auditioned for Hermia, the lead in our high school play. I rehearsed and memorized my lines til I got them down. I mean I really worked hard on it. I wanted it so bad I ate, slept and breathed the part. I went into auditions and do you know what happened?”  
“You got the part?” he guessed.  
“No,” she said “I bombed. I forgot all my lines, missed my cues and accidentally smacked my auditioning partner in the head. Susan Marcum got the part and I was her understudy. I wanted to die. Even more so, I wanted to quit. But I stuck it out as a minor part in the play because I realized that I would rather be a small part of something wonderful than not be a part of it at all.”  
Toby listened to her skeptically. Toby could feel an underlying lesson she was trying to give him.  
“So Tobe, it’s not the end of the world if you don’t get quarterback. We all have our off days. It’s how you overcome them which is the true test of your guts.”  
Toby let out a long sigh but knew she was right. He really wasn’t ready to give up football even if he did lose the quarterback position to Todd. Sarah always knew what to say. But even though talking to her helped him out of his funk, he still wasn’t ready to let go of all his grief.  
“Yeah, I know.” He said. “but it’s so unfair!” he grumbled in one last ditch effort to hold on to his misery. “I know that if I had one more chance I could beat Todd out for quarterback!”  
“Well then that gives you something to work for.” She said cheerily. “But even if you never get to be quarterback” she went on, “I’m sure whatever position you do play, you’ll be great at it.”  
His sister’s vote of confidence made him smile. She knew just how to make him feel better.  
“Yeah, well I guess you’re right.” He said hedgingly. “I guess if you could make do with playing the understudy I can make do with second string.”  
“Oh, I got to play Hermia.” Sarah quipped on the line.  
“I thought you said you bombed your audition?” Toby asked confused.  
“I did.” She assured him. “Susan broke her leg two days before the play so I got to fill in. A freak skating accident if I remember correctly.”  
Though Toby couldn’t be sure of it, he was certain he could hear the smile in his sister’s voice.

PART 2

Toby lied in his bed in the dark trying to fall asleep. He held the bear, Lancelot, that Sarah gave him when he was a baby, in his arms. Though he had quit sleeping with stuffed animals years ago (a decidedly “grown up” Toby declared stuffed toys were for babies at the mature age of nine) he still kept the ragged bear around. His big sister gave it to him and it lent him some comfort when he was missing her. He pulled the bear close to him and breathed in deeply and imagined he could almost smell his sister. In his mind, he could smell her comforting scent of cherries and vanilla whenever she would hug him. It made him long for the Saturday mornings she would come home from college. He was glad he got to talk to his sister on the phone. She cheered him up after his disappointing performance during tryouts. Though resolved to his fate as a second string quarterback, Toby was still distressed over losing to Todd. It gnawed at him hours after he should have fallen asleep. If he could just go back in time and change it somehow. He knew he could have done better. Today was just an off day was all. Maybe his coach realized that too? Maybe his coach knows he is the better candidate for the position. After all he has been coaching him longer than Todd, and would give him the spot since he put in the time, right? That thought put a small spark of hope in the otherwise hopeless boy. He rolled on his side clinging to that bit of chance.  
“I sure wish I could be quarterback.” He whispered into the dark.  
“Do you now?”  
Toby sat straight up in bed with a start at the sound of another being in his room. He looked wildly around in the dark.  
“W-who’s there?” he said, his voice raising an octave. How did someone get into his room? Who the hell was in here with him? He was getting ready to scream for his parents when the voice spoke again.  
“Up here young master.”  
A small light sparked above his head. He looked up towards the ceiling in awe. The light began to glow and brighten. It pulsated larger and brighter until eventually Toby had to cover his eyes for fear of being blinded. Finally the brightness subsided to a warm amber glow that filled the room. Toby brought his hands down from his squinting eyes and couldn’t believe what they saw.  
There, reclining on his ceiling, was a man! But unlike any man he had ever seen.  
The first thing that made this man extraordinary to Toby was the fact the gravity had no power over him. He was stretched out across his ceiling, lazily propped up on his elbow with one leg drawn up. He looked tall, at least taller than Toby was, maybe 5’10”, 5’11”. His mane was a shock of wild blonde hair with long tendrils that reached down just past his shoulders. His face was sharp and angular with high upswept eyebrows. His eyes were bright but mismatched, one blue and one brown. His lean frame was dressed in black from head to foot and he wore a black cape and matching gloves. He gazed down at the boy with expecting eyes and a light smirk on his face.  
Toby stared at him in awe, eyes wide and mouth agape. When he finally got himself together, he stammered out a question.  
“Wh- uh- where did you come from?”  
“From a distant place called the Underground.” The man on the ceiling responded.  
“What are you doing in my bedroom?” He asked.  
The man’s grin spread wider.  
“Did my ears mishear you or did you happen to make a wish just now?”  
he told the flabbergasted Toby.  
“A wish?” Toby asked, still confused.  
The dark man’s smile stretched even wider.  
“Yes young man, a wish. I have come because I heard your longing and found it is within my immeasurable abilities to grant your wish.”  
Toby squinted his eyes at the strange man with skepticism. “You’re here to grant me my wish?” he asked slowly. The man on the ceiling tilted his head and smiled in the affirmative. Toby stared at him suspiciously. “So what are you? A genie or my fairy…. godfather?”  
The man threw his head back and began to laugh, showing off his jagged teeth. ‘Those are some mean looking chompers!’ Toby thought. ‘They look like they could bite clean through your fingers!’ Nervously, he fidgeted in his bed as the man continued to laugh. Finally he stopped and looked down at Toby with twinkling eyes and a humored smile.  
“No young Tobias, I am not your fairy godfather!” he said amusedly. “Not a drop of Fae blood runs through my veins. Think older, more powerful. And I never was very fond of dusty old lamps. Too cramped you see.”  
Toby’s face flushed with embarrassment for thinking something so childish. Annoyance quickly replaced it at the man laughing at him. Then something occurred to him.  
“Hang on a minute,” he blurted out at the smiling man “how do you know my name? Who are you?”  
The man sighed as he stood up from his reclining position. He walked to the opposite wall and proceeded to walk down it without so much as a pause. Toby impulsively threw his legs out of bed and stood up. If this man tried anything dangerous, he would be out his door in a flash. When the man reached the floor, he stepped onto it and stood straight in front of Toby.  
“I know a great many things young Toby.” He told him with a serene look on his face. “As for who I am, I must ask your forgiveness for my lack of manners. I am Jareth, the Goblin King.”  
The Goblin King dipped his head in a slight bow and straightened again. Toby then really could see what an imposing figure he was. He stood before Toby very regal and proud. His being emanated power and mastery and something more, that he couldn’t precisely put his finger on. As he stared at the royal figure, an awkwardness started to creep in. Toby blinked profusely and stuttered out an introduction.  
“Um- I’m- er, ah- Toby Williams.” He stumbled out. He was at a stark lack of knowing what to do next. Stick out his hand or bow? He bewilderedly chose the latter. “Pleased to meet you.” He finished with a bow then grimaced slightly when he realized he should have tacked on a ‘Your Majesty’ somewhere in there.  
Jareth looked pleased. “The pleasure is all mine, I can assure you.” He said baring his teeth again, this time they didn’t look quite so intimidating in a smile. They stood there momentarily looking at each other until Toby broke the silence.  
“So what did you mean about granting me my wish?” he quipped.  
The Goblin King grinned. “Straight to business then.” He chuckled.  
Toby looked abashed. “I don’t mean to be rude, it’s just that this is so hard for me to believe is all.” he muttered. “It’s not everyday a stranger shows up in my bedroom offering to grant me my wishes.”  
“Yet here I am, young Master Williams!” Jareth said with a wide armed flourish, his cape fluttering around him. “Though we can hardly be considered strangers now that I know your name and you know mine. And, alas, it is only one wish I came here to grant this night.”  
“Just one?” he asked. “In all the stories I’ve read they get three wishes.”  
An intense look flashed quickly in his eyes, then was gone and replaced with a brief smile.  
“It is getting increasingly more difficult to impress your race.” The Goblin King said. “Don’t always believe what you read.”  
“Sorry.” Toby said, realizing he sounded a little ungrateful. “Soo….. I can have anything I wish for?” he plowed on.  
The Goblin King pulled from somewhere within the creases of his cloak three crystal orbs and began twirling them in one hand. ‘That is so cool.’ Toby thought. ‘I wonder if he could teach me how to do that?’  
“That is indeed what I am offering.” He told Toby. “However there are a few conditions to the wish.” He informed the young boy seriously.  
“Conditions?” Toby asked. “Like what?”  
Jareth smiled at the boy. “Like, for one, you must pay for your wish. Nothing in this world, or any other for that matter, is free. I can give you your heart’s deepest desires but it comes at a price.”  
Toby’s heart sank. Wishes had a price tag? How much did it cost? He had a few dollars saved in his secret stash under his mattress but he doubted it would be enough.  
“Ummm…..” he hedged “How much does a wish cost? Cause I don’t have a lot of money….”  
“That’s merely a trifling my boy!” Jareth exclaimed, dismissing the boy’s concerns. “Nothing you need worry yourself about! Payment is due only after you make your wish.”  
“Secondly,” he continued flippantly, “don’t waste your wish or my time on frivolities. I do so hate being pulled away from running my kingdom for trivial, momentary pleasures. So don’t go wishing for a new game ball of some sort or a mountain of ice cream or some other such nonsense.” He smiled.  
Toby giggled at his last statement and nodded.  
“Thirdly,” he continued on, “this minor transaction of ours must remain our little secret.”  
“How come?” Toby asked before he could stop himself.  
“Why? Because if you tell one of your little friends, he’ll tell one of his little friends, and they’ll tell their little friends and I’ll be buried under a mountain of wishes!” he exclaimed making and exaggerated fainting gesture. Toby laughed again. The Goblin King smiled at him then became serious once more. “You are not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Otherwise the consequences could be most dire.” With that he stared intently at the boy.  
Toby just nodded, “Uh, yeah, okay. Our secret. Sure.”  
The whole time the Goblin King had been explaining the rules of wishing, he had been spinning the crystals in his right hand. Now he threw them, one at a time, up in the air and they began to orbit around his head. ‘Now that’s magic!’ Toby thought, as he watched them circling the Goblin King. As if reading his thoughts, Jareth grinned at him and made them spin faster.  
“Now that we’ve come to terms about your wish,” he stated “exactly what is it you would like me to grant you?”  
Now it was Toby’s turn. Without a moment’s hesitation he blurted out his wish.  
“I want to be quarterback on the football team.”  
Jareth raised an eyebrow considering the boy. Toby felt a little silly for his wish and went on to explain:  
“It’s just I had a really bad tryout today and I know I can do lots better if I get the position but I just know the coach is going to give it to Todd Adams and-“  
Jareth chuckled warmly at the boy and Toby fell silent in mid-sentence. “There’s no explanation necessary.” He told him. The Goblin King reached up and plucked one of the floating orbs out of mid air and brought it down to Toby’s eye level as the other two vanished. Toby stared into the crystal and he could see himself, dressed in his football uniform, making a completed pass into the end zone, winning the game. He then saw all his teammates crowd around him, slapping his back and congratulating him as the parents in the stands cheered. He took in the sight within the crystal with wide eyed amazement.  
“Is this what you want?” the king of the goblins asked, looking slyly at the astounded boy. Toby pried his eyes away from the crystal just long enough to bob his head up and down. “Then all you have to do is wish for it.” he told the boy simply.  
Toby looked into Jareth’s face to see if he was pulling his leg. He saw nothing but sincerity in the supernatural face of the man before him. That, and a little bit of eagerness. But what did he have to be eager about? This was Toby’s wish and Toby was eager enough for the both of them. Toby licked his dry lips.  
“I wish,” he started, eyes never leaving Jareth’s. “I wish to be quarterback.”  
Jareth smiled triumphantly at the boy and released the crystal. Instead of falling to the floor, it merely floated over to Toby’s outstretched hand. It came to rest in his palm and began to brighten until it flashed hot then turned to glittering sand running through his fingers. The sand sprinkled to the floor only to dissipate before making contact. Toby stared at the whole process as if entranced. After the last of the sparkling sand winked out of existence, he blinked and looked back at Jareth.  
“That’s it?” he asked, surprised. He still felt a little dubious. Nothing changed. He glanced down at himself. He still looked and felt the same. Had the wish worked?  
The Goblin King smiled toothily. “That’s it.” he told the doubting boy.  
Toby stretched his arms out at his sides and looked down at himself again. He was still the same boy he was a minute ago. Even though he wasn’t sure what to expect, he thought for certain that he should notice some sort of change.  
“But I’m still the same.” He protested.  
Jareth arched his eyebrow and gave a bemused smile.  
“Ah, but you’re not.” He informed Toby.  
“I’m not?” Toby questioned.  
Jareth smiled wider. “Now you’re a quarterback.”  
“But how do I know the wish worked?” the boy asked. Jareth sighed as he turned from the boy and started fidgeting with his left glove.  
“Your kind,” he said in a bored tone “are such distrusting creatures.” He turned back to Toby “I appear in your room, perform varieties of magicks and mysteries before your very eyes and you still doubt me?” He splayed his hand across the middle of his chest and feigned offense. “Really Toby, I’m hurt.”  
Toby shuffled in his spot, feeling foolish. His cheeks began to redden from embarrassment.  
“Sorry.” He muttered apologetically.  
Jareth considered the boy before him. “It’s quite alright young Toby.” He told him. “Perhaps I can see your perspective. After all, living in a world so devoid of magic would tend to make one a disbeliever. But I assure you,” he said in an iron tone “your wish has been granted.”  
Toby looked back up at the king of the goblins. Though not sure exactly why, he felt this was not a man to offend either directly or indirectly. Jareth gave him a reassuring smile and ruffed his hair with a gloved hand. Toby felt relief flooding back into his limbs and smiled back at the Goblin King.  
“But, to prove that I am a king of my word,” he continued in an airy manner “I will postpone collecting my payment until you have been satisfied that your wish has been granted.”  
At the mention of payment, Toby’s face fell.  
“Um,” Toby mumbled “about that payment? I’m not really sure that I have enough money….”  
Jareth held up his hand stopping Toby in mid sentence.  
“Your paper currency holds no interest to me.”  
Toby looked bewildered.  
“Well….” He asked, confused “if you don’t want money what do you want?”  
The Goblin King smiled like a cheshire cat.  
“Why I want nothing more that a small piece of your childhood.” He said smoothly.  
Toby stared absently at him. Jareth turned and sauntered over to Toby’s bed. He reached down amidst the covers and pulled out Toby’s old teddy bear Lancelot.  
“This,” he said, as he turned the bear over in his hand “is all the payment I require.”  
Toby was a little stunned. He had no idea why this magical being would want something so insignificant as a teddy bear. He shook his head as if trying to comprehend better.  
“That?” he asked. “But that’s just an old teddy bear my sister gave me!”  
The Goblin King’s eyes sparked for the briefest moment and his smile slid broader across his face.  
“This is my price.” He confirmed. “Are we in agreement?”  
Toby was still a little in shock. A wish for a teddy? It seemed almost absurd to him. ‘Maybe he’s never seen a stuffed animal?’ he thought. ‘Maybe they’re worth a lot of money where he’s from?’ Despite the one-sidedness of the trade, Toby was a little hesitant to agree. Though it was raggedy and of little monetary value, it held great sentimentality to Toby. Sarah gave him that bear when he was just a baby. It was his first friend. He could remember taking it everywhere with him. Playing with it all day and tucking it under his chin each night before he went to sleep. It was his comfort during childhood hardships (like when his mom punished him for breaking the hall mirror) and a companion on his imaginary adventures. It held a lot of memories.  
But in his mind’s eye, Toby could still see the crystal with his image in it as quarterback. What did he need a teddy bear for anyway? The only reason he dragged it out tonight was because he was depressed and if he got the position all the depression would disappear. Being quarterback was a lot more important than some scruffy old bear. Besides, if he didn’t make quarterback, there’d be nothing lost. Satisfied with his reasoning, he agreed.  
The king grinned and returned the bear to Toby.  
“Good.” The man replied as his body began to glow with a red and amber light. “Do enjoy your wish young Toby and remember: this is our little secret.” At that, Jareth, the king of the goblins, disappeared in a burst of glitter. 

PART 3

The next day at practice was when the players would find out what position they would fill. Toby sat crossed legged in a circle with his fellow teammates, anxiously awaiting his fate.  
He had barely been able to sleep a wink after Jareth had left his room the night before. After a few hours pondering the peculiar occurrence in his head over and over again, he was able to drift off for a couple of hours before dawn. The next morning, he was like a zombie during breakfast which had his mother asking questions as to why.  
‘Because there was a strange man in my room that kept me awake all night juggling magical crystals.’ he wanted to tell his mom. But then Jareth’s words resounded in his mind: “You are not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Otherwise the consequences could be most dire.” He had warned him so sternly that Toby dared not even mention it to his mom in jest. So instead, Toby dropped his head to look into his bowl of cereal and grumbled out a “Gee mom, I wonder why.” Karen had drawn the conclusion that he was still distressed over the quarterback situation and dropped the subject.  
The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed in an undistinguishable haze for Toby. He kept running the previous night’s events through his head. The more he thought about it, the more he began to believe he dreamed the whole thing up. After all, the idea of a strange man dressed all in black floating crystal balls around his head, wanting teddy bears for granting his wishes, seemed pretty absurd in the light and clarity of the day. But it seemed so real. There had to be a way to prove to himself that it wasn’t a dream, maybe a grain of that glittery sand. He went to his room to investigate. Even after he scoured his room for some sort of evidence as to what happened last night, he still found nothing to prove his dream wasn’t a dream. ‘But it seemed so real.’ Toby thought to himself. ‘But how could it be? Magical beings don’t just pop into your bedroom at night, granting wishes then poofing away in a shower of fairy dust. Do they?’ He picked up Lancelot and examined him, as if looking for fingerprints or some other physical proof that Jareth had been handling it. His old Teddy bear looked the same as it always did, old and worn. Discouraged and disappointed he tossed Lancelot on his desk and grabbed up his football equipment and went to practice.  
And now, here he sat, in a group of his peers, nervously waiting for his coach’s verdict. He looked around at the other eager faces in the group and noticed that one face was missing among them. Todd Adams was no where to be seen. Toby was mildly curious over the other boy’s absence. Missing the first real day of practice was a huge no-no. The coach wouldn’t look kindly upon that. ‘Maybe he quit.’ Toby thought hopefully, but before he could analyze the situation any further his coach strode out onto the field with his clipboard in hand.  
“Alright boys,” Coach Benfer called out in his loud authoritive voice, “I have the results of yesterday’s tryouts.” He flipped the first page over on his clipboard. Toby’s heart leapt into his throat in anticipation. “This year’s starting quarterback will be… Toby Williams.”  
Toby sat overwhelmed with joy at the announcement. He was so stunned he barely felt the pats on his back or heard well wishes from the boys sitting nearest to him. He got quarterback. That was all that filled his world at the moment. The sky could crack open and spill out jellybeans and he would hardly notice. He was the quarterback.  
During practice, Toby played better than he ever had. He threw completed pass after completed pass. He scrambled nimbly out of reach of the defense time after time and delivered flawless passes to his receivers. His aim was impeccable. He moved faster and threw farther than he ever had before. At the end of practice, he was winded but happy as his teammates and coach complimented him on his performance.  
“Where did you learn to play like that?” Toby’s friend Shane asked.  
“I don’t know.” Toby said smiling sheepishly.  
“Well, you kicked butt out there today!” Shane gushed.  
“Thanks.” Toby said appreciatively. “But to tell you the truth, I thought coach would have picked Todd to be quarterback for sure.”  
Shane snorted. “He ain’t going to be playing football for awhile.”  
Toby looked at his friend quizzically.  
“Dint you hear?” he asked. Toby shook his golden head. “Todd fell out of his tree house last night and broke his leg.”  
At that news Toby’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. But before he could ask his friend any more details, his dad pulled up in the family station wagon. Toby said goodbye to his friend and hopped in the car with his dad.  
“Soooo, how did practice go today?” his dad asked him cautiously.  
“I got quarterback.” Toby told him with a broad smile playing across his face.  
“Well way to go champ!” his dad beamed at him. “I knew you could do it!”  
The rest of the ride home consisted of Toby telling his father about all the plays he completed and his dad breaking in every once in awhile to compliment him or offer a friendly tidbit of advice.  
When he got home he practically sprinted in the back door into the kitchen. His mother was on the phone and looked at him curiously when he came in. A knowing smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth as she said into the receiver “He just walked in, he can tell you himself.” and handed the phone over to Toby.  
“Hello?” he said into the phone.  
“Hey Tobes, how did practice go today?”  
“GREAT sis!” he gushed into the phone. “I MADE QUARTERBACK!!”  
“That is AWESOME!” Sarah spouted back to him. “CONGRATULATIONS! I knew you could do it!”  
Toby spent the next half an hour replaying his afternoon to his sister on the phone. He could hear the pride and happiness in her voice every time she congratulated and praised him on the phone. Toby neglected to mention Todd’s unfortunate accident but decided that it wasn’t important. After the way he played this afternoon, he figured he was just overreacting yesterday.  
“I am just so proud of you baby brother.” Sarah teased on the phone towards the end of their conversation.  
Toby blushed. “Thanks sis.” Then they exchanged their love and goodbyes and hung up the phone.  
Toby ran up the steps to get drop off his gear and get washed up for dinner. He burst into his room and tossed hiss duffel alongside his desk and was just turning to leave his room when he noticed it. There, laying neatly in the center of his desk, was a piece of parchment. Toby stared at it apprehensively. He walked back to his desk and picked it up gingerly. The writing on the parchment was in ink and elegantly scrolled. He furrowed his brows and frowned slightly as he read the only sentence on the page:

Use your wish wisely.  
-J

Toby sharply eyed his desk and then the rest of his room trying to locate Lancelot. The old teddy bear was no where to be seen. Realization flooded over him, frightening him with its implication. The parchment slipped from his numb fingers and lazily flitted to the floor. Toby just stared at where it landed and slowly backed out of his room. He never took his eyes off it until he reached the door then turned and ran from the room, slamming his door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

PART 1

Time has a way of slipping through one’s fingers without even the slightest notice that it has. And that was the way it was for Toby between the years of his first wish and his second. Minutes and hours and days and weeks and years passed before he had even realized it. But when that moment came, he was more than acutely aware of its passage.  
Life went on for him as it had for so many years. Toby was now fourteen and beginning his third year as a starting quarterback. His transition from intermediate football player to junior high football star was predestined. His skill at the game earned him admiration amidst his coaches and teammates and quite a bit of resentment from opposing team players. His playing was liken more to a well choreographed dance than the clumsy fumblings of a junior high football game. On more than one occasion, Toby’s impeccable timing and flawless aim secured his team a victory. And, on these occasions, Toby would be carried off the field like a conquering hero, to the raucous cheers of students and parents. For Toby, this was a wish well spent.  
School came easy for him as well. He was popular among the student body and did well in his classes. Even his once rival, Todd Adams, was now harmlessly out of the picture. Todd (who never did return to football due to complications from his broken leg) followed the calling of the stage and joined the drama club. This was all well and good for Toby. That was one area he couldn’t care less if Todd was better than him at. Toby and his friends were part of the “in crowd”. He had hit a growth spurt in his eighth grade year and was now a robust 5’7”. He kept his hair a little long, giving his soft curls a chance to develop. His apple cheeks were gradually shedding away to the more distinctive high cheek bones underneath. With his pale blue eyes and golden hair, there were more than a few giggles from crushing girls when he walked down the hall. His best friend, on and off the field, was his childhood schoolmate Shane McCalaster. Shane was a few inches shorter than Toby but wider at the shoulders. He had brown hair, which he kept short at the sides and longer on the top, and hazel eyes and a generous sprinkling of freckles across his checks. They had been practically inseparable since the fourth grade, going to each other’s birthday parties and sleepovers. Shane was Toby’s favorite wide receiver during a game. Toby could always look out over a field and find Shane ready to catch his pass. They had several classes together at school and after practice would frequently hang out together. The two boys shared everything and next to his sister Sarah, Shane was his closest confidant.  
Sarah, who was now twenty six, kept in close touch with her brother. Her internship now over, she got a job at the same television station as a production assistant to a very popular children’s show called ‘Miss Mabel’s Fairy Tale Cottage’. Sarah was just settling into the hustle and bustle of producing when fate decided to deal her a different hand. One day, thirty minutes before the show was to start its live taping, the actress who played Miss Mabel was in a terrible car accident when her brakes failed. She ran into the backend of an eighteen wheeler and snapped her spinal cord, never to walk again. The producers, in their great time of need, cast about looking for whichever pretty girl would fit the costume. There eyes lighted upon Sarah and she was cast as Miss Mabel’s replacement. Toby, who became quite the humorist over the situation, loved to tell everyone he knew that Sarah cut the previous actresses’ brake lines just to get on the show. Though he had only said it to his sister one time. It was over a Sunday dinner, to which Sarah gave him a scathing look and prompted Toby’s sudden interest in his peas.  
It was over these years that Toby hardly took notice to the subtle shift between his parents. During his growing up, his parents were the one stable he could always rely on. They worked like a well oiled machine, one picking up where the other left off. His mother worked in the home while his father held a typical nine to five as an insurance adjuster for a local insurance agency called Reed & Vannoll (or, as Toby liked to refer to them in more colorful company, Weed & Manhole).  
While his father’s checks were modest at first, as his clientele grew, so did his earnings. He was able to get rid of the old family station wagon (he gave it to Sarah during her internship) and was able to buy new cars for both him and Karen. But with the extra income came longer hours. Toby barely noticed it at first. His dad started coming home later for supper a couple nights a week or his mom picking him up after practice instead of his dad. He didn’t detect the cool silence between his parents in the morning before work/school. Things had gone on this way for quite some while and might have gone on this way indefinitely, without escalating. But soon his dad was coming home late every night and his mother was starting to show her resentment. Then the terse conversations over dinner started. They usually began by his mother making a sharp comment about dinner being cold when he got home and his dad replying in a mocking tone that somebody had to make the money to put it there on the table to begin with. Toby would sit through them in uncomfortable silence until the meal was ended, then retreat to his room. From there he could hear his parents arguing in low tones. At first. The longer the conversations went the louder they would become until they started shouting horrible things at each other. His mother would accuse his father of being up to something, she knew he was up to something. His father would shout back that she was being paranoid and she didn’t mind all the extra hours when she bought that two hundred dollar watch the month before. The fights would usually end when his mother storming out of the room or his father turning the television up impossibly loud. One night his dad left. Toby heard the whole thing from his room. His dad telling his mom he didn’t have to put up with her shit and her screaming at him just where did he think he was going. He heard the front door slam so hard the windows rattled and listened as his father gunned the engine to his car and backed out the driveway, screeching the tires on the wet pavement. Toby waited up until the early hours of morning for his dad to return home before weariness overcame him and he slipped off into sleep. The next day his dad was there in the kitchen, standing by the counter sipping his coffee as his mom made breakfast in the icy silence of the room. It was after that particular fight Toby called Sarah to come and get him for the day. With football season over, and him having no more practices to attend, it was the perfect way to get out of the house and away from his parents. Sarah made no comment over the phone to ask him why, she just merely stated that she’d be there in an hour.

PART2

Sarah arrived an hour later and pulled into the driveway in her old station wagon. Even though she was on television, Sarah referred to herself as a starving actress whenever her brother would tease her for driving that old beater around. He watched her pull in from his bedroom window and at the sight of her and the old car he felt relief wash over him. He was glad he wouldn’t have to spend all Saturday at the house with his parents the way they were. He grabbed his jacket and ran down the stairs hollering at his mom in the kitchen that he was going out with Sarah. He had dashed out the door before he could hear her reply. He swung open the car door and was in the front seat before Sarah had a chance to turn the vehicle off. She looked at him momentarily and gave a small shrug and just started backing out of the driveway. In less than thirty seconds they were on the road headed into town.  
It was a silent ride. Toby just stared out the window and Sarah kept her eyes trained on the road. She assumed Toby would tell her what was wrong when he was ready. When they got into town, Sarah took a right and pulled up to the local pizzeria, Gino’s Italia. They got out of the car and walked in. Toby sat down at a window booth while Sarah went to the counter and ordered two slices and drinks. When she got their order, she carried it over to the table and sat down.  
Toby, who still hadn’t said anything the whole time, picked up his slice and began nibbling at it uninterested. Sarah took a few bites out of her pizza, washed it down with a gulp of soda then finally spoke.  
“So are you going to tell me what’s bugging you or do I have to try to guess?” she asked.  
Toby put his slice down and wiped his mouth with his napkin. He finally looked up at his sister and spoke for the first time since she arrived home.  
“It’s mom and dad,” he said. “they’re fighting.”  
Sarah sat back in her seat and put both hands on the table. “Ah.” She said with a wise but sad look in her eyes, nodding her head with complete understanding.  
Toby then told his big sister all that had been happening at home in the past several months. About dad not picking him up from practice anymore, how mom was giving him the silent treatment in the mornings over breakfast. Then he told her the whole sorted tale about their fight the night before. Sarah sat, sympathetically listening to her brother, a concerned look on her face. She sat thoughtfully a few minutes after he finished, playing with her napkin. Then she looked him in the face.  
“You know Tobe, they used to fight a lot back when you were just a baby.” She informed him, leaning forward to rest her forearms on the table.  
Toby frowned. “They did?” He asked “What about?”  
“Me.” She admitted, with a cheerless smile.  
Toby just gawked at her, waiting for an explanation.  
“You don’t remember this because you were just a baby but your mom and I didn’t really get along very well at first.” She went on, “In fact we used to fight like cats and dogs.”  
“What did you guys fight about?” he asked.  
Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her seat and lowered her head. After a moment of silence, she looked up at his face with only her eyes. “You.” She told him lowly.  
Toby’s mouth dropped open a little and his eyes widened slightly. Him? Why would his sister and his mom fight over him?  
“It wasn’t anything you did.” She explained hastily. “It was me.”  
“Dad married Karen only a few months after my mom left.” She told him. “And I raised Holy Cane about it. I thought your mom was the fundamental evil step mother and I was the down trodden heroine.” She smirked and rolled her eyes at herself. “I was such a brat. I had a huge martyr complex back then. They used to argue all the time about what they were going to do with me. Sometimes they used to fight so bad, I thought they were going to split up, which is exactly what my bratty self wanted back then.”  
“But then you came along and my selfish dreams of splitting the two up were shattered. Oh, they still argued about me acting out. But now I had another target for my bad behavior.”  
Sarah sighed and lowered her eyes again, shaking her head in remorse. Toby sat there quietly drinking in all she had to say. When she raised her eyes again he could see the regret in them.  
“I’m ashamed to say this but I wasn’t always the best big sister I could have been towards you.” She said glumly. “When you were born, I thought you were just one more obstacle between me and my happily ever after. I ignored you and when I wasn’t pretending you didn’t exist I’d speak so mean to you. And then Karen and I would go into World War Three whenever they would ask me to babysit you.” Sarah looked away thoughtfully as she remembered. Her brow crinkled slightly as a worried look passed over her face.  
“Well what happened?” Toby asked her impatiently. “Things obviously turned around. I mean you didn’t throw me into a well or anything. What made it change?”  
Sarah darted her eyes back to Toby and he thought he saw a twinge of fear in the corners of her green eyes. She winced ever so slightly then relaxed her face as a smile replaced her previous frown.  
“Why, I discovered what a blessing little brothers could be.” She told him leaning closer to him from across the table. “I got over my ‘poor Sarah’ hang-up and concentrated on being the best big sister possible.” Her smile widened. “It was the best decision I ever made.” She said with a warm wink.  
Toby smiled at her. While it distressed him a little to think that his sister resented him when he was just a baby, everything turned out okay in the end between him and his sister. Except now his parents were fighting again. A cold feeling gripped him in his chest.  
“What if they’re fighting…… about me?” He whispered lowly.  
Sarah’s hands shot across the table and covered his own. “Oh God no Toby!” she cried softly. “This has nothing to do with you! Don’t even think that! They love you, we all do. None of this is your fault.”  
Toby felt tears beginning to prick his eyes and he had to look down at something really interesting on the table. “Well if this isn’t about me, then what is it about?” he croaked.  
“I’m not sure kiddo.” Sarah sighed wistfully. “But it sounds like it might have something to do with Dad’s work.”  
Toby was then struck with a bolt of genius.  
“What if we find out what’s going on?” He suggested. Sarah raised her eyebrow skeptically. “I mean, what if we stake out dad’s work and see what’s happening!”  
Sarah frowned at him. “I don’t know about that Toby.” She said, hesitantly. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”  
“C’mon sis!” He pleaded enthusiastically. “We can get to the bottom of this and fix the whole mess! We’ll hang out till dad leaves work and see if he goes anywhere!”  
“No Toby.” Sarah said firmly. “This isn’t something we should be sticking our noses in.”  
Toby flopped himself back in his seat. He folded his arms across his chest and slumped down in the booth with a look of frustrated disappointment on his face. Though he didn’t say it out loud, he certainly felt that his sister wasn’t being fair. After all, what did she have to lose? She was already out on her own; it wasn’t her life at stake.  
“It’s not like I need your permission.” He mumbled under his breath.  
Sarah stared at him in disbelief.  
“What did you just say?”  
Toby recognized her tone. It was the same one his mom used when he just said something he definitely shouldn’t have. He looked up at his sister. Yep, there was the matching expression his mom wore that went with the tone. ‘Well, it’s too late to back down now’ he thought.  
“I’m going to do it whether you help me or not.” He told her steadily.  
“Oh no you’re not!” she said with a huff.  
“Oh YES I AM!” he insisted, slapping his hands down on the table and leaning forward. “You’re not mom, you can’t tell me what to do! And it’s easy for you to forget it because you’re not living there anymore! You don’t have to hear them screaming at each other. You’re living two towns over, away from the war zone!”  
Sarah sighed and started to shake her head slowly. “Toby…..”  
“Or do you still want them to split up?” he said, cruelly.  
Sarah’s head snapped up at his words. She stared at him with her mouth gaped in horror. Toby could see the pain in her face at his words but he didn’t care. If she wasn’t with him on this one, he would just have to do it alone. He stared back at her intensely, willing her to realize just how serious he was. Finally, Sarah looked away.  
“Fine.” She said, grudgingly. “We’ll do it your way.” Toby started to grin but was cut off by his sister’s next words, “But if this blows up, it’s going to be all your fault.”  
He nodded his head in agreement. “Thanks Sarah.” He beamed. “Now how are we going to go about this?”  
“What, didn’t think that far ahead?” Sarah snipped at him. She sighed and rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “Ugh. Let me think….” She squinted her eyes closed as she thought. Then her head popped up at an idea.  
“Do you think you could come up with an excuse to stay after school or something next week?” she asked.  
“Sure.” He said with a shrug. “Why?”  
“Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll pick you up at the school on Wednesday. Stay after to talk to a teacher or miss the bus or whatever. I’ll pick you up in the side parking lot. We’ll head over to dad’s work and wait for him to leave. Then we’ll follow him to see where he goes.”  
“What’s with all the sneaking around?” he asked. “Why not just pick me up at home and just say we’re going out?”  
“In the middle of the week? How often do I drop by during the weeknights? That would look just a little suspicious.” Sarah looked up at the ceiling with a tsk. “And besides, if this little mission fails, I don’t want them to know I was involved in this stinker.”  
Toby grinned sheepishly at his sister. They finished the last of their pizza and drinks and got up to leave. Walking out to the car, Sarah turned and suddenly stopped. She looked curiously at the roof of the pizzeria. Toby followed her lead and stared as well.  
“What?” He asked.  
Sarah squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side in curiosity.  
“I thought I saw something on the roof.” She said quizzically. She shrugged her shoulders. “It must have been a bird or something.” She and Toby got into the car. They buckled up and she was backing out of her parking space as she dictated more of the plan to Toby.  
“Tell Karen that you’re going over to one of your friend’s house after school to work on a school project and that they’ll drop you off at home later.” She said. “And make sure it’s somebody she won’t call to check up on.”  
Toby smiled sarcastically. “Sure thing Double-O-Sarah.” He mocked, giving her a little half salute. “Is there anything you didn’t think of?”  
Sarah smirked at him. “Yeah,” she remarked wryly, “how we’re going to pull this off without getting caught.”

PART 3

As the week progressed, with Wednesday looming ever closer, Toby began to feel on edge. A number of ‘what ifs’ started running through his head. ‘What if we get caught?’ was in the forefront. Despite whether or not they find out anything about their father, if there was indeed anything to uncover, if they got caught, questions would arise as to why he was lying about working on a school project at a friend’s house and what he and Sarah were doing. They could try to lie their way out of it. But, while he might have gotten away with a few little white lies in the past, he didn’t feel confident enough he could talk their way out of this one. They discussed the possibilities over the phone the nights leading up to their mission but neither could come up with an excuse that was plausible enough to save their asses.  
There was another ‘what if’ that remained unspoken between the two siblings. The possibility that they would uncover something sordid about their father was feared between the two of them. Even though it was unspoken between the brother and sister, both knew it was the foremost concern of the other. In fact, they most carefully avoided voicing such a suspicion as if to mention it would bring it into being. Anything else, gambling, drinking or even cross dressing, was a more favorable alternative to that.  
But despite the nervous misgivings that were gnawing at his gut, this was his plan and Toby was determined to see it through. On Tuesday night, he told his mom that he’d be riding home with Shane the next afternoon to finish their social studies project. His mom, who was becoming increasingly more agitated as she watched the clock waiting for his father to come home, seemed annoyed.  
“Why don’t you and Shane just finish your project over here?” she suggested. “After all that money we spent on those encyclopedias for you eleventh birthday, you should get more use out of them than letting them sit on the shelf collecting dust.”  
Toby groaned inwardly. Those damn encyclopedias were going to be the end of him! Thinking quickly, he concocted a scheme.  
“Yeah, but Shane’s family has a computer and we were going to use their internet. It is this really cool network that you can look up stuff on the computer and-”  
Karen threw her hand up in the air and interrupted him. “Alright, enough. You can go. What time should I pick you up?”  
Toby was ready with his reply. “Oh don’t worry about picking me up. Shane’s mom said she could drop me off.”  
His mother looked pleased by his answer and just commented “Be sure to be home by nine.”  
Toby gave an inward sigh of relief and went to his room. He thought it best to be out of sight, out of mind, to avoid anymore questions his mom might think up. His plan almost didn’t work. Stupid encyclopedias. He vowed to burn them the first chance he got.  
The next morning was like any other. His mom and dad weren’t speaking again, after having another argument the night before. Toby was used to it by now. He just kept his eyes on his cereal and marked time until he had to catch the bus. His dad finished his coffee, grabbed his car keys and slipped out the door with a half hearted “bye”. Toby took that as his cue to gather up his books and take his leave as well. He was almost out the front door when his mother’s words stopped him in his tracks.  
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”  
Toby froze. He turned around to his mother, eyes wide and nervous. Oh God, what could she know?  
“What?” he asked.  
Karen waved a piece of paper in the air. “Your bus excuse? And don’t forget to turn it into the office!”  
Toby smiled at his mom as he took the slip of paper. If he managed to make it to school without having a break down, this plan might have a chance at working.  
School drug on impossibly long. It felt like the last day right before the beginning of summer vacation. Toby found himself sitting through most of his classes bouncing his knee under his desk and watching the clock. During his fourth period science class, he was so distracted that he failed to hear the teacher ask him a question. When he finally did hear her, she was rather irritated. So irritated, that she gave him a special assignment. He was required to write ‘I will pay attention in science class’ one hundred times, to be turned in before the end of class. Toby moaned to himself as he took out a piece of paper and started copying the dictation.  
Eventually, the hours began to wind down and dismissal time drew close. Toby watched the clock fervently, ticking down the last minutes. When the final bell did sound, he was out of his seat in a flash and hurrying out the door. Toby went to his locker and gathered up his books and loitered about in the bathroom until he felt certain that the buses left. He came out of the restroom to a near empty hall. Coming down the hallway was his math teacher, Mr. Bruce. Mr. Bruce stared at him then called out down the hall.  
“Did you miss your bus Mr. Williams?” he asked. “Do you need to use the office phone to call home?”  
Toby tried to act as nonchalant as possible. He gave his teacher his most bored look and said “Naw, my sister’s picking me up.”  
Mr. Bruce merely nodded and kept going on his way. When the teacher rounded the corner, Toby started hustling for the side parking lot. When he pushed through the double doors out onto the pavement, the parking lot was empty. Toby looked around nervously. Where the hell was Sarah? This was not the day for her to be fashionably late! He was just getting ready to let out a string of swear words that would put a sailor to shame when he heard the burr of the old station wagon’s engine. Seconds later, the car came into view. Sarah pulled up next to him.  
“Waiting long?” she asked.  
Toby gave her a disgruntled look but said nothing. He threw his books into the back seat and took his seat in the front. Sarah reached into a brown paper bag and brought out a bag of chips and bottle of Mountain Dew and tossed them in his lap. Toby’s mood lightened considerably.  
“I thought you might like a snack.”  
“Thanks sis.” He said, breaking the seal on the cap of the soda. After taking a long haul on the beverage, he began to unwind a little. Recapping the soda he turned to his sister.  
“Well let’s get this mission started.” He said.  
Sarah just nodded and pulled out of the parking lot and turned right, headed for her father’s place of business. His insurance agency was on the north side of town, in the business section. Though their hometown was no bustling metropolitan by any stretch of the word, it did have a thriving downtown, complete with its own movie theater. The business section was several blocks of shops, eateries and companies all vying for society’s patronage. Toby rarely had opportunity to venture into the downtown, (his home and school were comfortably nestled in the outskirts of town, with their own park and neighborhood market) but he knew his way around. When he was younger, his parents and he would have movie night every other Friday and after the movie, walk down the street to the nearest frosty cup to get a strawberry sundae. Later, when he reached his preteens and early teens, Sarah would take him out to the video arcade and pizza when she’d come home for a visit. This was a lot different than those happy times. He wondered what kind of memory he would have about this outing in the future.  
Sarah pulled up to the red light that was at the end of the street that Roger Williams’ worked on. She took a left at the intersection and proceeded down the block until they spotted his insurance agency on the right. Sarah slowed the car down and put on her left turn signal and pulled into an abandoned parking lot next to a building of a failed coffee shop. She eased into a parking spot nearest to the building and cut the engine. From this vantage point, they had a perfect view of Reed & Vannoll Insurance, which was across the street, three buildings down. It was situated along the primary street and a side street on its right side. The entrance was located at the front of the building facing the main road with windows to offices dotting its right side. The company parking lot was behind the building, accessible from the side street and Toby could see his father’s tan Chevy Cavalier parked next to a dumpster along the back wall.  
“Look,” he said to Sarah, pointing to the coupe, “there’s dad’s car.”  
Sarah looked over to where Toby had pointed and nodded her head.  
“At least we know he’s here.” She told him. “If I remember correctly, his office is the third window down.”  
Toby tried to stare into the window she indicated but couldn’t discern anything without the office lights on. Thwarted, he leaned back into the car seat and rested his arms across his chest.  
“Okay, now what do we do?” he wanted to know.  
“We wait.” Sarah replied to him, staring out the windshield. “And watch.” She turned to her brother sitting in the seat next to her. “You ought to get your homework done while it’s still daylight. Dad doesn’t get off work for another couple hours so you might as well use them studying.”  
Toby was about to complain, but figured his sister was right. It would do him no good to carry out their undercover surveillance only to get in trouble later on for bringing home a bad grade. At any rate, it would help the time pass. Toby reached into the backseat and brought out his English book.  
For the next couple hours, Toby worked on his homework with Sarah giving him the occasional help here and there. They had arrived in the abandoned parking lot around three-twenty that afternoon and the five o’clock hour was starting to approach. Sarah started watching the office more intently the closer it got to quitting time. Even Toby would look from his homework to watch the building as the clock wound down. At five o’clock, there was a trickle of employees that spilled out the front entrance. The two Williams children watch anxiously, scouting the crowd to see if their father was one of them. Roger Williams wasn’t among the first to leave. Over the next ten minutes or so, more employees would leave and Sarah and Toby would check to see if he was one of them. Finally, the exodus stemmed off until the door remained still and silent.  
“Well,” Sarah supposed, “he must be working over.”  
“What if he left, and we missed him?” Toby worried.  
“He hasn’t left.” Sarah reasoned. “His car’s still parked there.”  
Toby sat quiet. His dad’s car hadn’t moved from its spot beside the dumpster. But Toby, restless for something to happen, had a niggling suspicion.  
“What if that’s not dad’s car?” He stated.  
Sarah’s lips pursed. He could see doubt creep over her features. Finally with a slow shake of her head she answered him.  
“That’s got to be dad’s car.”  
“Yeah, but what if it’s someone else’s car?” Toby insisted. “What if we’ve been watching the wrong car?”  
“Of course it’s the right car!” Sarah snapped. “Look! It’s the only tan Cavalier in the parking lot!”  
Toby looked towards the parking lot again. Other than a red Pontiac Sunbird, which was parked across the lot from it, the Cavalier was the only other vehicle there. Suspicions laid to rest, Toby watched the door for a little while longer then turned to his homework again.  
After another hour or so, the natural light in the vehicle started to wane. It was getting close to sunset. Even though the weather was mild for this late in October, the nights were getting longer and the sun was going down sooner. In another half an hour or so, it would be too dark to work on his school assignments. Toby hurriedly worked out the last of his math problems, trying to beat the encroaching darkness. Just as he finished his last problem, he noticed his sister sit straight in her seat. She let out an unconscious ‘aha’ as she concentrated on her dad’s office building intently.  
Toby hastened a look across the road to see what sparked his sister’s interest suddenly. He spotted immediately that the light in the office the supposed to be their father’s had just come on. He could see right into the brightened room and saw his dad walk around his desk and seat himself behind it again. He watched him shuffle his papers around a little bit then bowed over them again in concentration.  
“Well, that doesn’t look like anything dubious.” Sarah remarked, more to herself than to Toby. She looked over at her younger brother. “Unless those are secret government documents, I’d say dad’s been staying late to catch up on busy work.”  
Sarah’s assessment seemed to be the accurate one. For the next hour and a half, their dad continued much the same; reordering papers on his desk, getting items out of his desk, occasionally leaving the office for a few minutes. His routine seemed so mundane, Sarah and Toby soon lost interest and began conversing about lighter subjects. Sarah asked him about how school was going and football. He told her that other than his little episode in science class that day, he was doing well. Then she moved on to other subjects like new movies and going-ons of her new job. Eventually the topic shifted to that of girls which made Toby squirm visibly. Sarah, sensing his discomfort, pressed on teasingly until she finally got him to admit there was this girl in English class that he kind of had a thing with. Sarah laughed at him after he admitted that he was uncomfortable asking her out. What if she said no?  
“Well you’ll never know unless you ask.” she smirked at him. Toby still didn’t feel all that certain. “Besides, what’s the worst thing that could happen?”  
Toby felt quite certain that the worst thing that could happen would be her saying no and him dying of embarrassment right on the spot. Sarah threw her head back and laughed uproariously over his declaration. Toby, who was peeved by her reaction at first, gradually began to laugh with her until he was guffawing as hard as her. Their laughter eventually died down and finally ended with Sarah giving the most unladylike snort followed by chuckle or two.  
“Okay,” Toby said with a wicked grin on his face, “so I haven’t been burning up the dating scene. But what about you? I haven’t seen you bringing home any guys to meet mom and dad.”  
Sarah’s smile seemed to dampen a little but she still held it in place. She pondered his statement for a moment before coming back.  
“I really don’t have a lot of time for dating.” She said with a half shrug. “Besides my job at the station, I decided to get my bachelor’s in film and television. After all, I don’t know how long I can ride out this Miss Sarah thing.”  
Toby’s smile got more devious. “Sure,” he drawled out, “that’s what all the spinsters say right before they start wearing those really cool knitted ponchos and get a dozen cats.”  
Sarah gave Toby an insulted gasp and slapped him playfully on the shoulder.  
“Be nice you horrible little goblin!” she exclaimed. She smiled back at him again.  
“I guess I have hit a dating drought.” She conceded. “I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem that any guys are really interested in me. At least, not beyond the first date. I mean, the date goes great. We go out for dinner or a movie, and at the end of the date, they always say their going to call me, but then Poof! I never hear from them again. It’s like I scare them off or something.”  
“They probably saw you eat ribs.” Toby smirked. He cringed in his seat while Sarah started smacking at his arm again. He straightened out when the assault ended and they both heard a very audible growl coming from the vicinity of his stomach.  
“Hungry much?” Sarah mocked.  
He smiled guiltily. “Famished.”  
Sarah turned, looking out the back of the car. “Well, there’s a convenience store about a block back there I could run down to and get us something to eat.” She said. “Do you think you’ll be okay here while I go get us some snacks?”  
“Yeah, sure.” He said, waving her off as she exited the car. “Just hurry it up. Get me some beef jerky and something cakey.”  
Sarah muttered something under her breath that sounded like ‘You’ll get what I bring you’ as she closed the car door and walked across the parking lot. Toby turned in his seat and to watch her until she got on the sidewalk and disappeared around a building. He turned back around in his seat. It had grown dark by now and the street lights that lined the sidewalks had come on. He stared at the lit window of his dad’s office and watched his dad once more. After a few minutes, Toby decided this was the most boring way to spend an afternoon. Despite his incurable boredom, he was relieved that the reason his dad was working late was paperwork. He had just decided to tell Sarah to take him home when she got back to the car, when something in his father’s office caught his attention.  
Or, more precisely, someone.  
The door to Roger’s office opened and a very attractive brunette entered the room, holding files in her arms. His father looked up from the paperwork before him and smiled at the woman. She had her back to Toby so he couldn’t tell what she was doing but it looked like she was talking to his father and his father was grinning and nodding his head. The brunette placed the files on the corner of his desk and walked around to where Roger was sitting. She leaned down to look over his shoulder at some papers in front of him, her hair folding forward. Roger cast her a fleeting, nervous look, but didn’t move away from her. They stayed like that momentarily as she pointed out something on his desk and then straightened back up with a self knowing look on her face.  
Toby saw all this from the front seat of the station wagon with a growing sickness roiling inside him. He had to know what they were saying. He had to know what words were being said with these condemning actions between his dad and that office bimbo. He knew, that if he didn’t hear that conversation, he would most likely swallow all the encroaching anger he was feeling build up inside him and die of an aneurysm.  
Toby got out of the car without his eyes leaving the tableau unfolding within his dad’s office. He crossed the street, carefully keeping out of the glow of the street lights and quickly darted across the side street next to his father’s building. He stealthily crept along the wall that faced the side street. He could see the light spilling out of his dad’s office, illuminating the sidewalk below it. He could feel his heart pounding his chest as he inched his way closer to the window. He was there now, just squatting on the sidewalk, with nothing but a pane of glass separating him from whatever ungodly things were occurring inside. He straightened his back along the way from his crouching position trying to make himself as minimal as possible. He had just started leaning his face forward to take a peek in the window when he was grabbed roughly by the arm and yanked back away from the window.  
He turned, frightened that his dad just caught him spying on him, to see the consternated look on his sister’s anxious face. Relief flooded over him as he sat there on the sidewalk with his sister crouching next to him. It didn’t last long.  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!?” She whispered harshly to him.  
“Jeez Sarah, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He hissed angrily back at her. “And what does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting a closer look.”  
“It looks like you’re trying to get us caught!” She countered. “We are leaving right NOW.”  
“No!” he argued, “We can’t go until I hear what they’re saying! There’s a woman in dad’s office and they were acting really friendly, if you know what I mean.”  
Sarah’s eyes got wider and the color drained from her face. She shot a glance up at the window they were hunkered down beside. She looked like she wanted to say something but was uncertain what she wanted to say. Before she could piece a sentence together, the light on the other side of the glass went out.  
“Shit!” She whispered urgently. “They’re leaving! We got to get out of here!”  
Toby scrambled to his feet, ready to make a wild dash to the car, but Sarah’s tight grip on his arm stopped him.  
“Not that way!” she hissed at him. “They’ll see us!”  
By this time the brother and sister could hear the front door opening and voices coming their way. Sarah pulled her brother down the sidewalk and into the parking lot. It was all but deserted, except for their dad’s car, the bimbo’s car and the dumpster. The two hastily scurried behind the dumpster to hide. There they waited, with baited breaths, as the footsteps and voices came closer. Toby strained his ears to hear what was being said. The bimbo’s voice cut through the night air as she gave a high, falsetto laugh.  
“Roger, you did not say that!” she laughed. Though neither he nor Sarah could see what was happening, he imagined the floozy hanging on his father’s arm as she gushed all over him.  
“I did.” He insisted. “That gives new definition to premium policy.”  
The woman laughed as if she heard the funniest thing in her life. Toby hated the sound of it. What kind of bottom feeding bimbo did you have to be to laugh at an insurance joke? She laughed, longer than necessary for any joke, then stifled her giggles all together. There was a pregnant silence which was unbearable.  
“Heather, what are you doing?” he heard his father ask.  
“What do you think I’m doing?” Toby could practically hear ‘Heather’ purr.  
Toby could hear shoes scuffing the pavement on the other side of the dumpster, as if someone was backing up.  
“Heather, you know I’m married.” His father told her.  
“Yeah, to a battle ax!” she scoffed at him. For the first time in his life, other than the time Mandy Chambers pushed him off the swings during recess in second grade, Toby wanted to hit a girl.  
“Come on Roger, I heard everything you’ve said about her. How she nags at you about work and wasting your money. How she’s always giving you the silent treatment over every little thing. About how you’re thinking about divorce.”  
The finality of the word cut through Toby like a cold knife. He could feel Sarah stiffen next to him at its mention. Divorce. He didn’t know that it was that bad. Sure his parents were fighting but he had hoped that it could be resolved. Now he comes to find out that his dad has been talking around the office about divorcing his mom.  
“So….. why not?” she cajoled in a sultry voice. “No one needs to know about it, I can be very discreet. C’mon, you’ve had to see the subtle little hints I’ve been giving you.” She giggled, “You might be married but you’re not blind.”  
There was a long, frightening silence that followed. It seemed as if his father were actually considering the skank’s proposal! Toby exerted his ears to detect any little sound. Finally, the silence was broken by his father’s voice.  
“I can’t.” he told her, sounding almost regretful. “It’s not that I’m not flattered, it’s just I’m in a difficult spot already and dragging someone else into it isn’t going to help.”  
Heather sighed and Toby could hear the click of her shoes as she walked away. “Suit yourself.” She called back to his father. “Just remember, the offer’s out there if you ever change your mind.”  
He heard a car door open from across the parking lot and seconds later its engine roar into life. He listened as the vehicle pulled out of its parking space and leave the lot, the engine’s humming growing quieter as it drove away. After a moment or two, he heard his dad’s car start up and leave the parking lot as well. Within a minute, it was only him and Sarah left.  
The two crawled out from behind the dumpster and hurried to the sidewalk to see which way their dad went. The Cavalier was no where to be seen. They hurried across the street to the abandoned lot where the station wagon was parked. They both climbed in the car breathlessly.  
“C’mon sis!” Toby encouraged his sister. “If we hurry we can catch up with him and see were he’s going!”  
Sarah finished strapping herself in with her seat belt and turned on the ignition. She sat there briefly with her hand on the gear shifter. Finally, she put the car into drive and pulled out of the old lot and took a right. Toby looked at her confused.  
“I think he went the other way!” he said helpfully.  
Sarah was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that he could see her knuckles turn white. She proceeded to the intersection and turned on her right turn signal.  
“No.” she said emptily. “It’s after eight o’clock already. Karen’s going to start wondering where you’re at.”  
“Screw that!” Toby objected loudly. “I want to see if he’s headed over to that home wrecking floozy’s house! He-”  
Sarah turned on him, wild eyed and frenzied.  
“I said NO!” she screamed at him, almost hysterically. “And THAT is THAT!”  
Toby’s mouth opened as if he were going to argue about it but then he saw the half crazed look she had and thought better of it. Instead he just quietly reached for his seatbelt and buckled himself in.  
And that was definitely that.

PART 4

The ride home was a silent and uncomfortable one. Neither one said anything to the other the whole ride. Toby was grateful when they finally turned onto the street his house was on. Sarah slowly drove down the road and parked three houses away from the Williams’ home. Toby reached into the back to gather his schoolbooks without saying a word. As he was getting out of the car, Sarah spoke to him.  
“Toby….” She started.  
“Save it Sarah.” He rebutted without letting her get a second word in. “I don’t want to hear it. After seeing what we just saw, you let him drive away as if nothing happened. That might be okay in your book but it’s not okay in mine.”  
“Toby, just listen…”  
“I said I don’t want to hear it.” he ground out. “You know, it might not matter to you whether they get divorced or not, but it matters a hell of a lot to me.”  
“Toby please!” she pleaded.  
Maybe it was the way she said please, in that heart rending voice that made him stop. He looked back into the station wagon at his sister’s woeful face. Her eyes glistened brightly with unshed tears and her lower lip trembled with anguish. It was just at that moment, she burst out into tears, covering her face with her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.  
Seeing his sister that way frightened Toby. He could stand anything else he went through up to that point; his parents fighting, the uncomfortable silent treatments afterwards, even his dad’s almost infidelity. None of that was as bad as seeing his sister this upset. He had only ever seen her like this once before and that was when her dog Merlin passed away. He crawled back into the car with his sister.  
“Hey there, don’t do that.” He said in a softer tone. Sarah ignored him and just went on crying in shuddering gasps. Toby reached into his pocket and pulled out an old handkerchief. His grandfather gave him it to him one day when he fell off his bike and scraped his knee. ‘There, there sprout’ he remembered his granddad saying to him as he dabbed the small flecks of blood coming to the surface of his knee, ‘it’s nothing to go on about. Barely a scratch. There now, wipe your eyes.’ He handed the handkerchief to Toby to dry his eyes with. When Toby went to return it to him, he told the young boy ‘Best you keep that now. A gentleman always comes prepared. You never know when a damsel in distress might be in the need of a hanky.’ So Toby kept his granddad’s hanky. When he passed away three years later, Toby made a habit of carrying it with him, out of memory of his grandfather. ‘Well granddad’ he thought ‘if this isn’t a damsel in distress situation then I don’t know what is’.  
He handed it to his sister and she took it and buried her face in it. After a little bit, her sobs began to die down to sniffles until finally she lifted her head from her hands.  
“I’m sorry about that.” She said trying to compose herself, dabbing her moist eyes with the handkerchief. “It’s just the thought of them breaking up reminds me so much of when dad and my mom got divorced. It was hell and I don’t want you to have to go through what I went through.” she said in a choked voice, tears starting to well up in her eyes again.  
It distressed him to see his sister in this condition. No matter how miserable he felt about the whole situation, he knew he had to stifle own emotions to try to comfort her. Putting on his best poker face, he draped his left arm around her and leaned her into him in a hug.  
“Don’t let it bug you so much sis.” He said in a reassuring voice. “Dad wouldn’t leave mom, especially not for that office slut. After all, he did turn her down.”  
Sarah calmed herself enough to sit up and look him in the face. She stared at his face hopefully. Toby stared back at her, carefully masking the doubt and torment he felt. After a minute, she managed a frail smile.  
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” She agreed. She laughed weakly. “Look at me, blubbering on like this and you trying to make me feel better. It’s me that should be comforting you.” They both smiled feebly at each other. “When did you turn into the big brother?”  
“Oh, I don’t know.” He said. “I think it was somewhere between the bag of chips and when you used my shirt to wipe your nose on.”  
They both chuckled a little at his statement. Sarah wiped the last of her tears from her cheeks and smoothed her hair with both hands. She let out a long sigh and looked over at her brother.  
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked going back into big sister mode. He scrunched his face up a little bit in thought then nodded.  
“Yeah,” he said, “I think so.”  
Sarah dropped her voice a little lower. “Are you going to tell Karen?”  
Toby was really stumped. Until that moment, he hadn’t thought about exactly how he was going to handle the situation. Should he tell his mom what he and Sarah witnessed in the parking lot at his dad’s work? While he believed his mother had a right to know when some cheap floozy was making a move on his dad, he was scared it might put a bigger strain on the already tense situation. Should he confront his dad about what he saw? Right now, he didn’t even want to be in the same room with his dad let alone talk to him. But what other choices did he have? While he didn’t want to be the one to break his mom’s heart, he also couldn’t let things possibly progress to something worse. He couldn’t just do nothing but he couldn’t imagine doing the alternatives. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t it black or white? With all these thoughts tumbling around his head Toby wished he had some clue how to handle it. It was as if all his neurons fired a spark at the same time.  
Wish.  
Use your wish wisely.  
Suddenly Toby saw the situation with clarity.  
“Um,” he said bringing himself back to the moment at hand, “I’m not quite sure. I think I need to sit on it for awhile until I figure out what to do.”  
Sarah nodded her head sadly.  
“That’s probably best.” She said. “However you decide to handle this, I want you to know, I’ll back you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”  
She looked across the seat at him with as much comfort that she could muster. Toby leaned across the seat and gave his big sister a hug.  
“Thanks sis.” He said. “I got your back too.”  
They gave each other another tight squeeze before Toby finally got out of the car. Sarah handed the handkerchief back to her brother which he shoved in his pocket. He stood there by the side of the road as he watched her pull away with a little wave. Then he picked up his backpack and headed for home. A new possibility was forming in his mind.  
He hurriedly walked down the road towards his house, his heart pumping with newborn restlessness. His mind was racing at the idea of fixing this horrible state of affairs his parents’ marriage was in. The possibility of saving his family put extra speed in his step as he began to sprint the rest of the way home.  
….It is within my immeasurable abilities to grant your wish.  
When he got to his house, he could see his father’s car parked outside the garage. Toby was relieved to see it. ‘At least he didn’t go home with that skank’ he thought. Toby bounded up the steps of the front porch and into the house. Inside he found his dad sitting in his chair with the television blaring and his mother clearing the table. ‘Another night at the fights in the Williams house’ he thought. His mother looked up from what she was doing. When he saw her face, he knew his assumption was right. Her expression softened a little when she saw it was him.  
“Toby, I didn’t hear you get in.” she said. “Did you boys get your project done?”  
Toby looked at her blankly for a second then remembered himself.  
“Oh yeah,” he said, “we got it all finished.”  
“Well are you hungry? I could fix you up a plate.” She asked.  
“Uh, no mom.” He told her. “I ate over at Shane’s.” She looked as though she were about to say something else but Toby cut her off. “I’m just going to head upstairs and finish the rest of my homework.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate his direction. His mom just nodded her head and went back to her task.  
Toby shot through the living room and quickly mounted the stairs. He only paused once to look down at his father. Roger Williams had his back to his son and was concentrating intently on the television. He glared at his dad briefly before he turned and disappeared into his room.  
Once in his bedroom, Toby tossed his backpack on the floor next to his desk then turned and locked his door. He began to pace between his bed and the desk in nervous deliberation as he recalled that night three years ago. He had just bombed his football tryouts and was up in his room moping when a strange man appeared in his room offering to grant him a wish. He could remember the man with precision: his wild blond hair, mismatched eyes, dark leather clothing. How his presence filled the room. The magical orb (no, crystal) that he had offered him with his dream of being quarterback in it. How he took the crystal and the next day he was made quarterback. He remembered how he had been frightened when he found the note on his desk and his beloved Lancelot missing. He recalled how he laid up awake long after his bedtime, wondering if the dark man would come back. At first he was disappointed, and a little relieved, when he didn’t return and then eventually he stopped thinking about that night altogether. Years had passed without him even so much as sparing a thought about it. But now he remembered. He remembered it all. What was his name? Garth? Jared?  
Jareth.  
Jareth the Goblin King.  
But how did he call him? He never even knew of his existence before that night. But somehow, Toby made him appear. Was there some sort of spell or magic word he said? Toby wracked his brain trying to remember.  
….Did my ears mishear you or did you happen to make a wish….  
His heart leapt into his throat. That’s what called him to Toby. Toby said the word ‘wish’. He said he wished he could be quarterback and Jareth made it so. Toby stopped pacing. He knew it was crazy but he had to give it a try. He straightened himself and stood rigid as a pole.  
“Jareth.” He spoke in a shaky, uncertain voice. He took a deep breath and said a little more steadily, “Goblin King, I have a wish.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he shut his eyes and waited what may come.  
He stood like that, arms tight to his sides, hands clenched, eyes tightly closed. After about thirty seconds or so, his curiosity got the better of him. Slowly, Toby opened one eye and snuck a glance. Then he opened the second and turning his head in all directions, looked about his room.  
Nothing.  
He relaxed his posture and turned his whole body around. He scanned all around his room for a hint of the king of goblins. Nothing. No glimmer of light, no glitter. There was nothing. Frowning and feeling a little bit foolish, he repeated himself a little bit louder.  
“I said; I have a wish!”  
“Yes, I heard you the first time.”  
Toby wheeled around in the direction of the voice.  
There standing before him, in all his splendor, was the Goblin King.  
He was exactly the same as Toby remembered him, right down to the black boots. He stood there, hands on his hips, eyes boring into Toby’s. Toby felt his mouth drop open as he gawked at him. He seemed more imposing than he remembered. He also seemed…agitated. While his stance was one of control, his eyes were scanning the room. His nostrils flared as he drew in several deep breathes, which seemed to make him more wary. With the slightest flick of his gloved hand, Toby felt the pressure in the room change. It was as if his bedroom was in a vacuum. The Goblin King glowered at Toby.  
“Are we alone?” he asked in a growl.  
Toby was bewildered at the question. He looked around nervously. There wasn’t another being in the room with them! Surely the Goblin King could see that with his own eyes.  
“Yeah.” Toby replied, baffled  
Jareth’s eye twitched, ever so briefly, as he gazed around the room again. Then he shut his eyes and slowly inhaled a deep breath. Toby could see his face relax a bit and felt the air in the room lighten. The Goblin King exhaled and opened his eyes. They skimmed over Toby quickly and he cocked his head curiously. Finally his eyes came back up to Toby’s and he gave him a knowing little smile.  
“Well, young Master Tobias, it is a pleasure seeing you again.” He said with slight dip of his head. His eyes hardened and the smile melted off his face. “And for future reference, I am not accustomed to being summoned in such a manner.”  
“Uh, oh. Um, okay.” Toby stuttered out inadequately. “I mean, I’m sorry….your Majesty.”  
Jareth looked appeased by Toby’s apology. His smile returned to his features as he appraised Toby.  
“My how you have grown!” he exclaimed. “It seems in my absence, you have become a man.”  
Toby couldn’t help but feel a burst of pride with his words. He drew himself up taller and puffed out his chest, just a little bit. Jareth continued his appraisal of the teenaged boy.  
“Yes, quite a man.” He continued. He turned his head somewhat to the side and looked slyly at Toby from the corners of his eyes. He grinned mischievously. “But I don’t think you asked me here to show me how tall you’ve grown.”  
That brought Toby back to earth. He had almost forgotten why he called him there! Pulling his thoughts together, he took a deep breath and started.  
“I need your help.” He blurted out.  
The Goblin King looked amused and cocked an eyebrow but said nothing.  
“It’s my parents. They haven’t been getting along with each other very well.” He continued on. “They’ve been fighting lately, I mean a lot, and I think if they keep going at each other like they have been, they might get a divorce.”  
Jareth rubbed his chin thoughtfully and paced closer to Toby. He still had an amused look on his face which made Toby wonder, rather fiercely, if he was taking what he was saying seriously. He stopped a few feet away from the teenager and looked at him good-naturedly.  
“Ah, but young Toby, from what I’ve come to understand of your race, quarrels are the spice of matrimony! Many a heated argument between lovers has ended in rather lusty couplings afterwards.” He said suggestively.  
Toby felt his face flush with embarrassment at the thought of his parents “coupling” lustily or otherwise.  
“Yeah,” he said modestly, “but not fights like these!” Then he added in a lower tone, “Besides, it doesn’t help that there’s someone else in the picture.”  
“Oh, an interloper in the marriage.” He murmured. He shook his head disappointedly. “That does tend to complicate things.”  
“Yeah,” Toby agreed, “it does.” Toby started to wring his hands, a nervous habit he had when he was worried. “I was hoping that maybe you could fix it?”  
Jareth laughed softly and clapped his gloved hands together. “Yes, I can be of some assistance to you, if you so wish it.” His voice took on a sober tone. “But I must remind you that every wish comes at a cost.”  
Toby was ready for that. “What do you want?” he asked. He had already taken mental inventory of what he might barter to Jareth. He had a rather expensive watch that his parents had given him for Christmas last year. There was his dad’s gold money clip that he inherited from him on his last birthday. He even considered giving away his silver rosary that he got for his first communion. What Jareth said next nearly floored him.  
“Turn out the contents of you pockets.”  
Toby stared at him stupidly. Surely he didn’t hear him right. The king of the goblins did not just ask for a handful of change and some pocket lint! Jareth looked at him patiently, waiting for him to empty his pockets. Toby realized that he was the one holding up the show so he plunged his hands into his denim jeans. When he pulled them out, he dropped their contents onto his desk and reached in again. When he had rummaged through all his pockets, to be certain he hadn’t missed anything, he turned them inside out. His pockets hung on the outside of his jeans like the ragged ears of a mutt and there on his desk sat the cost of a wish: one pen, a crumpled up hall pass, a key chain with a tiny football on it, a used handkerchief, a Swiss army knife, a couple of dollars and some loose change.  
Jareth strolled over to the desk to take inventory of the items, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the contents. Ever so gently, he coaxed the black glove from his right hand exposing the slender digits that lay beneath. He brushed his fingers over the objects, lingering briefly until it came to the handkerchief. He touched the fabric delicately and a mysterious smile played across his face.  
“What troubles you?” he murmured so quietly that Toby barely heard him. He caressed the cloth with his fingers and became very still. An intense look settled on his face. His eyes darkened and a frown replaced his once smile. He stood like that for several minutes, not saying anything. Finally, he released the material and returned his glove back to its original location. Satisfied, he turned back to Toby, a look of approval on his face.  
“This will do.” He told the teenager. Elation moved through Toby like a jolt of electricity that his offer had been accepted. Jareth smiled at him, almost predatorily. “Now all that remains is to say the right words.”  
This was the moment Toby was waiting for. “I wish my parents’ marriage was back to the way it was before!” He exclaimed.  
The Goblin King’s eyes glinted like steel. Taking his gloved hand, he reached up in front of himself above his head, as if he were plucking an imaginary fruit, and drew his hand down through the center. As he pulled his hand back down, a crystal formed in his fingers. It swirled with colors of blues and greens. Toby stared at the orb. Gradually, the colors cleared and he was able to peer within its depths. There he saw his mom and dad, relaxing together on the couch, his mother lying in his father’s lap. They were smiling at one another and laughing. It was the very picture of what parental love should be. Toby reached out to take his wish. The crystal reacted to his extended hand and gently hovered through the air into it. There it sat in his palm, swirling and (pulsating?) lustrous. It began to brighten then, as the other one had so many years ago, it seemed to burst leaving sparkling sand running through his fingers. Toby looked back to Jareth.  
“Thank you.” He said gratefully. Jareth smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.  
“Now remember the terms to the wish.” He warned him. “Speak of this to no one.”  
“You got it.” Toby agreed. A shiver of joy and relief went through him. After so many months of discourse, it was finally over. His family would be back to normal and happy again.  
“I think I’m going to go downstairs to see if it worked yet!” He announced.  
The Goblin King grinned. “Patience Toby!” he laughed. “Magic like this takes some time to work.”  
Toby’s head bowed a little in disappointment. “Oh.” He said. Then he looked back up at Jareth. “How long will it take?”  
The king of the goblins brought his finger up to his chin to ponder the question. “It depends.” He concluded.  
“On what?” asked Toby.  
Jareth shot the boy a distrustful look which made Toby feel like he might have stepped over the line. He remembered a saying he heard his mom use once when they were having a dinner party and one of the guests asked her how she made her roasted pork loin so tender. His mom just smiled at the guest and said ‘A magician never reveals his secrets.’ Maybe the same applied here. Toby quickly amended his question.  
“I mean, do you think it’ll be soon?”  
The Goblin King’s gaze became less severe. He turned from Toby, his cape swirling about his legs, to stroll close to the desk again. He stared down at his payment with such unblinking intensity that Toby thought they would burst into flames under his close scrutiny. His hand stretched out, almost involuntarily, to touch the pile again. But at the last second he seemed to reconsider and withdrew his hand. He turned back to Toby indifferently.  
“I expect you will notice some change come the morrow.” He told him coolly.  
Toby felt a leap of excitement. Tomorrow! He could have his family back to normal by breakfast! Now it was Toby’s turn to pace.  
“Tomorrow!” he said excitedly. “Mom and Dad will be better in the morning! I can hardly wait! Man, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep a wink til then!”  
“Perhaps I may help you in that area.” He heard Jareth say, closer than he should be.  
Toby turned around only to be shocked to see Jareth’s face mere inches from his. He had his hand up to his face, with the palm facing upwards. Nestled in the cup of his hand was a sparkling powder that appeared to have the same consistency of talc. With a quick gust from Jareth’s lips, the powder flew into Toby’s face, causing him to blink and flinch backwards. He looked at the Goblin King, who was now smirking, and was about to ask him what the heck that was for when it hit him. His eyesight dimmed and he had the delicious sensation of floating away on a warm tide. After that, he knew no more.

PART 5

“TOBY! YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!”  
Toby woke up with a start. Sunlight was streaming into his room and he was in his bed. He sat up in his bed confused. The last thing he remembered was making that wish then Jareth blowing some powder in his face…..  
Jareth! He must have rufied him! He threw back his covers and got out of bed. There was dirt smudged on his sheets from his sneakers. Not only did the guy drug him, he didn’t even have the decency to take his shoes off so not to ruin his bedding! He grumbled to himself as he shed his clothes from the day before and pulled on new jeans and a football sweatshirt. Well, at least he didn’t leave him lying on the floor, he conceded. Toby threw his shoes back on, and made to grab up his backpack, when he noticed the things on his desk had disappeared. He paused just a moment before taking up his pack and heading out the door.  
He didn’t know why but the empty desk gave him a creepy feeling. He knew that was how the wish worked, his pocket scraps for fixing his mom and dad’s marriage, but it was still weird. Especially the way he stared at the stuff, as if he were… hungry for it. Hungry. It was odd how that word popped into his head when he remembered Jareth going over his things but it was the right one. The way he looked at his junk was almost as if he wanted to devour it. It made him feel uneasy, but if it saved his parents’ marriage, he could use the crap in a soup for all he cared.  
Toby ran down the steps and into the kitchen to see just what his wish had bought him. His mom was clearing the breakfast dishes away from the table but there was no sign of his dad. Disappointed, he asked his mom where his dad was.  
“He already left like you ought to be.” She scolded. She handed him some cold toast and a leftover piece of bacon. “Here, eat it on your way out or you’re going to be late for the bus!”  
Toby groaned with a mouthful of toast as his mom hustled him out the door. He wanted to see if his wish had worked. He got to the bus stop just as it was pulling up. He climbed into the bus, tossed his bag into a seat and sat down. He was extremely frustrated. He was going over his interaction with his mom, trying to ascertain whether or not his wish had gone into effect yet. His mom’s demeanor didn’t give him any clues whatsoever. But he kept going over their brief interaction trying to pick out a sign. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts he barely noticed the other passengers rushing to his side of the bus to stare out the windows. He snapped out of his daze just in time to stare out the window with the other students. They were passing the park. There were police cars all over with their lights flashing. An ambulance was at the scene too. They were all converged around the wooded edge and there was yellow police tape strung up around the trees. A murmur ran through the bus about what might be going on.  
“There must have been an accident or something.” He heard one of his teammates say.  
“Did you see what was going on?” a girl twos seat in front of him asked her friend.  
Toby said nothing as the bus passed the eerie scene. He watched with the rest of the bus’s occupants until the flashing lights faded into the background.  
The school was atwitter about the police scene. Rumors floated through the classes as each student theorized about what happened. Toby listened to the chatter only half heartedly. On any other day he would have been speculating with the rest of the student body but on this day he was preoccupied with his own thoughts. He went through his classes in a daze, wondering when his wish would kick in. He was so distracted that in science class he missed his teacher’s directives, again. This time instead of giving him lines to write, she gave him a note that he had to take home for his parents to sign. Toby mentally kicked himself for being so careless again and cursed about how long the day was dragging out.  
But his school day finally did end and he found himself on his front porch again. He walked through the front door and was greeted by his mother carrying a basket of laundry towards the stairs. She was humming. Toby couldn’t remember the last time he heard his mom hum, she sure hadn’t hummed much in the last few months. He looked at his mother in amazement. She smiled at him as she passed.  
“Hi sweetie.” She said cheerily. “Have a good day at school today?”  
“Uh, yeah.” He replied, not mentioning the note from his teacher he had tucked in his back pocket. “How was your day mom?” he asked her cautiously.  
“Oh the same.” She told him happily. “There’s a sandwich on the table to tide you over until dinner.”  
Toby walked into the kitchen and dropped his backpack into one of the chairs. The first thing he noticed was the delectable aroma of his mom’s cooking that filled the room. He could identify the meal upon first whiff, roast beef. His dad’s favorite. Toby got a quirky little smile on his face when he spotted the bouquet of lavender roses on the table. He walked over and picked out the card that was nestled among the flowers. His grin got bigger when he read the simple sentiment scrawled in his dad’s handwriting:  
I love you.  
A delirious surge of joy ran through his body. The wish worked! He wanted to laugh, scream, sing and dance all at the same time. He ran through the living room and up the stairs to his room. His mother was leaving his bedroom after depositing his laundry on his bed. He bounded up to her and threw his arms around her. He caught her off guard and she stumbled back a few feet. She laughed at him (oh, what a wonderful sound!) and returned his hug.  
“Toby!” she giggled at his antics. “What in the world has gotten into you?”  
“Nothing mom.” He gushed. “Just wanted you to know how much I love you.”  
Karen pulled back from her son a little to smile at him and lay her hand tenderly along his cheek. “You are such a sweet boy. I love you too.”  
Toby spent the next few hours before his father’s arrival in ecstatic bliss. He immediately called his sister Sarah and informed her of the amazing reformation. Sarah was speechless. But that soon gave way to questions about what happened to turn this around. Toby said he just came home to his mom humming a song, making dad’s favorite dinner and the roses sitting on the table. Sarah was all astonishment and giddiness at the turn of events. The spent the better half of an hour discussing their parents’ reconciliation. Toby finally had to end the conversation when he heard his father pull into the driveway, on time.  
His mom was there to greet his dad at the door with a kiss and his dad had a small package in his hand for her. She took the gift and squealed in delight when she opened it and found a beautiful sapphire bracelet inside. Toby couldn’t banish the smile from his face the whole afternoon. Dinner was peaceful, for the first time in months, with his parents exchanging pleasantries about their day and shooting meaningful glances across the table at one another. Later in the evening when Toby came down from his room to scavenge for leftovers, he caught his mom sitting in his father’s lap, watching the evening news. He rolled his eyes at them as he passed.  
“Get a room you guys.” He told them with a smirk.  
His mother giggled like a teenager when he heard his dad say in a low voice what a good idea that was. Toby shook his head good naturedly. He had just finished raiding the refrigerator when the phone began to ring. He shifted his roast beef sandwich and glass of milk into one hand so he could answer the telephone.  
“Hello?” he said into the phone.  
“Hello Toby.” The familiar voice on other end of line answered. “This is Richard Vannoll. May I speak with your father?”  
“Dad it’s your boss on the phone.” he called into the living room. He handed the receiver to his father and was returning to his room when he noticed his mom sitting on the edge of her seat concentrating on the television. Toby turned his attention to the reporter on the screen and instantly recognized the park in the background. He stopped in his tracks and gawked at the TV.  
“….. the body of a local woman was found dead in the wooded area behind me early this morning by local law enforcement officers. The body had numerous lacerations on it which appear to be bite marks and scratches of unidentified wild animals. Police officials confirm that the woman was mauled late last night and the name of the victim has yet to be released.”  
Toby stood stunned at the news report. It was as if his feet were rooted to that spot. That’s how he remained when his father entered the living room again, a sickenly shocked look upon his face. It was then that Toby knew, he knew, what his father was about to say, even before his mom asked him what was wrong.  
“That was Rich Vannoll.” He said dully. “It was about Heather Blair. She’s dead.”


	4. Chapter 4

PART 1

Knowledge is the executioner of innocence.  
The death of Toby’s innocence came at his realization that he had caused the brutal and untimely demise of another human being. He had mistakenly set loose a cold blooded monster into their midst, one that he had inadvertently unleashed upon Heather Blair. Despite the evidence of an animal attack, Toby was convinced with unwavering certainty that it was Jareth’s doing. This knowledge hit Toby so violently that he fled the living room to the sanctuary of his bedroom. He banged his door shut behind him and leaned against it, panting heavily. His head swam dizzily and he believed that he was on the verge of passing out when he felt his throat fill with bile. Toby rushed to his waste paper basket and kneeling over it vomited up the contents of his stomach. His stomach wretched and heaved long after it emptied, until spit roped out of his mouth. He wiped it away with the back of his hand and sat on the floor leaning against his wall. The tears flowed from his eyes in torrents as sob after shuddering sob wracked his body. He remained like that until his eyes were swollen and his throat was sore from crying. Then he just bowed his head upon his knees and welcomed the numbness that came.  
That was how his mother found him when she came up to his room half an hour later. She rushed over to her son’s side and threw her arms around him in comfort. He barely heard her as she explained to him that these awful tragedies sometimes happen, that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent it. But Toby knew better. He knew that if he hadn’t made his wish that Heather Blair would still be alive. He allowed his mother to help him up off the floor and to set him upon his bed. He let her draw him into her embrace and stroke his hair and soothe him with her words. He nodded his head, ever so minutely, when she asked him if he would like a cup of cocoa, and she removed his waste paper basket as she left. Toby had changed into his night clothes by the time his mother returned with a steaming mug of hot chocolate in her hand. She offered it to Toby and sat down on the side of his bed asking him if he was going to be alright. He gave a weak nod and his mother took him into her arms and placed a kiss upon his forehead and told him that he would feel better in the morning. With one more kiss, his mother got up and left his room.  
Toby lay in the darkness for hours thinking about what had happened. It seemed almost unreal that the woman he had hated so passionately a day ago was now dead, by his word. It horrified him the ramifications his wish had. All he had wanted was for his mom and dad to get along again. How was he to know that Jareth was going to kill her? But in the back of his head, Toby knew his ignorance was no defense. He had felt what a deadly being the Goblin King was, even after he made his first wish and Todd Adams’s leg was “coincidentally” broken. He knew that he was dangerous yet chose to ignore the fact. He inwardly scolded himself, how could he be so blind? But now he was fully aware of what the Goblin King was capable of and it froze him to his very core. He vowed to himself that no matter what, even if Jareth offered to make him the president of the United States, he would never again make another wish.  
Toby wasn’t able to sleep at all that night. His conscience wouldn’t allow it. When his mother came to his room in the morning to wake him, she found her son still in bed and despondent. She rubbed his hair and assured him it was okay, that he could just take the day off from school. He stayed like that most of the morning, huddled in his blankets. At one point, he managed to drift off to sleep. He dreamt of Jareth, waving a bloody crystal in his hand, smiling at him like a shark with his jagged teeth. It jarred him awake with such a start that he still imagined he was somewhere in his room, with that bloody ball, smiling. It was enough to send another wave of nausea over him and he rushed from his bed to the bathroom.  
As he was in the bathroom, he could hear the phone ringing downstairs. His mother picked up the phone after the third ring. Though he could hear her speaking, he couldn’t make out what she was saying. It was a brief call and within minutes it was over and he could hear his mother ascending the steps. She found him in the bathroom, hunched over the toilet and asked him if there was anything she could do for him. He shook his head in the negative.  
“That was Sarah on the phone.” His mom informed him. “I told her what happened to Heather and about how you’ve been taking it and she said she was going to stop by this afternoon to see how you’re doing.”  
Toby knocked the lid down on the toilet and got up. He felt a sudden stab of anxiety.  
“God mom, what did you have to go and do that for!” He shrieked. “Why did you have to go and make such a big deal out of it?”  
His mother took several steps closer to her son and clasped his face between her hands.  
“Honey, this is a traumatic experience for you!” she said searching his eyes. “I just want you to feel better! I thought you would like to see your sister.”  
Toby slapped his her hands away from him. “Yeah, well you thought wrong.” He said as he pushed past her. “You just don’t get it.”  
“Then tell me! What can I do?” she called after him. “Toby! Talk to me!”  
He ignored her pleas and stormed off to his bedroom. The only answer Karen Williams got from her son was the sound of his door slamming shut behind him. 

 

PART 2

 

Sarah arrived at her old home at around four that afternoon. Toby heard her pull into the drive and slam her car door shut. Within seconds he could hear her downstairs talking with his mom. Minutes later there was a soft tapping at his bedroom door.  
“Tobes, can I come in?” the voice on the other side of the door asked. He didn’t answer her. He just sat in his bed staring at the wall. Soon the door opened a crack and his sister’s head peeked in.  
“Just go away.” Toby muttered despondently.  
“I can’t do that.” Sarah said as she entered the room. “Not until we talk about what happened.”  
‘What’s there to talk about?’ Toby thought viciously, ‘I made a wish and it got someone killed’. Toby didn’t move when his sister sat down on the bed next to him. She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.  
“Toby sometimes things like this happen. Death is just a natural part of life. It’s only normal that something this… graphic would upset you-”  
“It’s not that.” Toby muttered, pulling away from Sarah. Sarah placed her hands in her lap and looked at her brother patiently. Toby had dealt with death before. His granddad died when he was seven. Despite feeling sad and missing him, he handled it just fine. This wasn’t anything like that.  
“Then what is it?” she asked. In a slightly lower voice, she added “Is it because you wanted something bad to happen to her?”  
Toby jumped as if someone jabbed him with a sharp stick. He looked at his sister, his face aghast. For a minute he thought she knew about his wish. What would she think of him? Would she think he was a murderer? Would she think he sent Jareth after her?  
Sarah looked at her brother’s shocked face and knew she hit the mark. She smiled a remorseful smile. “I know I did.” She admitted. Toby said nothing. “The night we caught her throwing herself at dad, I wanted her to drop of the face of the earth. I hated her so bad right then I could have- well, I don’t know exactly what I would have liked to have done to her, but it wouldn’t have been nice.”  
“I had awful thoughts about her and when I heard she had died, I felt really bad for them. I feel really guilty for thinking like that. Is that something like how you feel?”  
‘Take that feeling and multiple it by a million’ Toby thought. He gradually nodded his head in agreement.  
“Do you believe that just because you felt that way that it makes you a horrible person?” Sarah asked.  
‘Yes’ his head screamed. Toby sat very still not sure how to respond. Finally he just gave up and shrugged.  
“It doesn’t make you a bad person Toby.” Sarah told him with a faint smile. “In fact, if you didn’t think bad about her after what she tried to pull, I would have had to recommend you for sainthood.”  
Toby tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. He longed for his situation to be that easy! He wanted so desperately to make Sarah understand. But how could he explain it to her? She would think he were crazy with all his talk about wishes and Goblin Kings and homicide. But on the other hand, if anyone would believe him, it would be his sister. She knew him better than any other; surely she would be able to help him. He scooted around in his bed so he could face her.  
“Sarah, do you think that maybe what we did might have brought this about?” he asked testing the waters. “I mean like maybe us knowing about it might have….jinxed her?”  
Sarah’s forehead creased in uncertainty. Her eyes crinkled and she turned her head to look at him out of the corners of her eyes.  
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at.” She said.  
“I mean, what if thinking bad stuff about her caused it?” he edged, trying to ease her into the revelation that was about to come.  
“That’s not the way it works kiddo.” Sarah shook her head. “Thinking bad stuff, no matter how awful, can’t get someone killed. If that were the case, then half of my college professors’ houses would have blown up by now.”  
“What if I did more than think?”  
Sarah looked sharply at her brother. “What do you mean?” she asked.  
Toby opened his mouth, ready to spill the whole story. He didn’t care if she believed him or not or if she blamed him for it, it would just feel good to get it off his chest. The relief he would feel confiding it to another human being! He could sense it building up in his chest, waiting to erupt forth from his lips. He wanted to tell her everything: About the first night he made a wish and Jareth came and made Todd break his leg so he could be quarterback; about how two nights ago, he called on the Goblin King for a second time to fix his parents’ marriage and how that unintentionally got Heather Blair killed. He wanted to tell her everything, how Jareth could walk on the ceiling, how he made the crystals twirl around his head and the way it melted in his hand when he made his wish, how he traded Lancelot to become quarterback. Then just as he was about to spill his guts about the whole convoluted ordeal, Jareth’s warning rang out in his head like a bell:  
You are not to breathe a word of it to anyone… Otherwise the consequences could be most dire.  
Toby closed his mouth with an almost audible snap. He never spared a thought about what Jareth could have meant (indeed at the time the only thing that filled his mind was becoming quarterback) but now he had a clear understanding of the words. He knew it wasn’t an idle threat and to what extent Jareth would pursue it. He could hurt (or kill his mind whispered) him if he revealed their secret. Toby felt a trickle of fear begin to puddle in his stomach. Oh God, he could go after mom and dad, maybe even Sarah. The thought made him sick. How could he drag them into it? He couldn’t risk turning them into targets for that psycho. If anything happened to any of them because of him, he would never forgive himself. Daunted, Toby looked away from his sister.  
“Toby, what is it?” Sarah pursued.  
“Nothing.” He whispered, defeated. He bowed his head. He couldn’t drag her into this and possibly endanger her life, or anyone else’s. The enormity of the accountability he felt was crushing him. He drew in a weary breath and closed his eyes. He could feel the tears slip past his lashes and spill onto his cheeks. He didn’t care.  
Sarah encircled her arms around her brother. She gently leaned her head against his.  
“Oh, Toby.” She cried softly in his ear. “Toby, please tell me what’s a matter.”  
Toby lifted his head and tried to focus his tear laden eyes on his sister. In his misery, he felt compelled to reach out to her, to glean what little comfort she could offer him. But he couldn’t endanger her like that so he just moaned “Have you ever said something you wanted so bad to take back?” More tears ran down his face at his words.  
Sarah looked into his face with a sorrow that could almost match his own.  
“Yes I did.” She confessed. “It was a long time ago and I’m not really comfortable talking about it so please, please, don’t ask me more than I’m willing to tell. But I once wished something really bad on someone. I said something I never should have said. But I didn’t mean it and I was really sorry about it afterwards. “  
“Toby, I’ve known you since you were a baby and there’s not a cruel bone in your body. And no matter what you could have said or thought it couldn’t have had any bearing on what happened to her. I mean, you didn’t ask anyone to sic wild animals on her did you?”  
Toby sniffled. No matter how guilty he felt over the whole incident he never did actually tell Jareth to do anything to Heather. He never even mentioned her by name. Slowly, Toby shook his head.  
“So then it’s not your fault.” She tried to persuade him. “The fact that you feel guilty about what you said is a sign of your compassion not you liability”  
Toby carefully considered her words and decided he had two choices. One: he could carry this burden of blame until it ate him alive or two: he could believe what his sister said and get on with his life. He chose the second. After all, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, well at least not THAT bad. In fact he didn’t even name her specifically. He just wanted to fix his parents’ marriage, he had no idea Jareth would go postal. And he learned his lesson, he would never make another wish again, no matter how harmless it might seem.  
Toby wiped the tears away from his eyes and managed a small smile at his sister. She returned it and reached out and took his hands in hers.  
“So I take it you’re going to be okay now?”  
Toby nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said “I’m getting there.”  
Sarah’s smile broadened. “Then do you think you might get out of bed today and shower some of that grungy odor off of yourself?” she teased. Toby smiled again and Sarah ruffed up his hair. She stood up from his bed and headed for the door. “Seriously, get a shower. Then maybe you can come downstairs and grab some dinner with the rest of the family. I don’t know about you, but I’m starved.”  
At the mention of food, Toby’s stomach gave a hungry squeeze. He didn’t realize how hungry he was until then. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and made to get up. “Yeah, yeah.” He mumbled. Just then something struck him that made him ask:  
“Sarah, when you made that wish against that person, did anything bad happen to them?”  
Sarah froze in her tracks, her hand on the doorknob. She slowly looked over her shoulder at him. There was an odd look on his sister’s face, one that he couldn’t decipher, but he knew had no business being there. She looked blankly at him before she answered.  
“No.” she said listlessly.  
And with that she left the room.  
Years later, Toby would still recall that expression his sister wore on her face that night when he asked her that. He had failed to recognize the look because he was still young in life and not accustomed to the trappings of adulthood. It was a look which would unfortunately become more familiar with age.  
She looked like she was lying.

 

PART 3

 

The next day was the funeral. Roger and Karen Williams, concerned over their son’s well being, considered leaving him home for the services. But after Toby convinced them that he was alright and that going would prove therapeutic for him, they relented and took him with. The ride to the funeral home was quiet, every once in awhile his mother might mention how the weather was starting to get cooler or his dad would say something about the parking availability. Toby sat in the backseat, absorbing it all but not contributing.  
In truth, he was a little nervous to be going to the viewing. True, he had attended his grandfather’s viewing and funeral but he was still very young and didn’t quite comprehend the gravity of the situation. He remembered his granddad lying in his casket, his eyes closed and hands folded over each other. He looked so peaceful. In fact, Toby said to Sarah the he looked like he was sleeping. Toby wondered how Heather would look today, laying in her coffin. He somehow doubted she would have the same peaceful look his grandfather had.  
The family pulled up the funeral home and was greeted by the sight of mourners outside. Roger Williams found a stall one block over and they walked to the home. The whole time walking there, Toby felt oddly disconnected from the scene unveiled before him. The only thing convincing him that it wasn’t a bad dream was the sound of his mother’s heels clicking on the concrete as they walked up the sidewalk. His parents passed some condolences to the grievers outside then the three of them entered the funeral home.  
The inside was much as he expected it. There were flowers and wreaths everywhere. In the room which contained the body of Heather Blair, there were pictures of her during happier times with scatterings of her personal effects and offerings from the mourners left on the tables lining the hall up towards her casket. The casket was closed. He had overheard one of mourners outside mention that her body was so disfigured by the attack that it made an open casket funeral impossible. But on top of the closed casket was a ten by thirteen picture of Heather, smiling cheerily at the viewers. Her parents were standing to the side of the coffin, receiving viewers and accepting their condolences. In the next room Toby could see rows of chairs with saddened people in them and could hear the muffled crying of women. In the front was a podium surrounded by flowers on both sides and a poster sized photo of the deceased on an easel. Toby tried to ignore then next room, choosing to instead concentrate on the pictures placed about as the line of viewers moved inexorably closer to the casket. He focused on a picture of her where she appeared to be about his age. She was perched atop a chestnut colored horse, dressed in English riding apparel. He long brown hair was braided and hung out from underneath her cap. Her face was one of merriment and her smile beamed out of the photograph. Even at that age, Toby could clearly see what a beautiful woman she would grow into and if she had attended school with him, he would have been interested in dating her.  
Finally, it was their turn to pay their respects to her parents. Toby looked at the mournful faces of the Blairs. He instantly recognized where she got her good looks. Her mother, though face pulled in grief, was a very pretty woman. They shared the same hair and face. They were so similar in features; Toby believed he was looking at an accurate representation of what she would have looked like if she had made it to that age. But it wasn’t until he turned his notice to her father that he realized they shared the same eyes, hazel and almond shaped. His father stepped in front of Mr. Blair and took his hand in a two handed handshake.  
“I am so sorry for your loss.” He told the bereaved man in a close voice. “Heather was such a wonderful person. She will be sorely missed at the office.”  
Mr. Blair nodded his head in acceptance and the Williams family moved on to the sitting area. They took their seats closer to the back, near the archway leading into the receiving area. Toby sat in the aisle seat with his parents sitting to the left of him. Toby listened to the other viewers, catching bits and pieces of conversations. He learned from a pair of mourners behind him the man in the front row dressed in the navy blue suit was her boyfriend. He was out of town during her attack and it was so tragic for him to find out about Heather’s death the why he did. Toby stared at the man in the front row, wondering if he knew about his girlfriend’s possible infidelities. Whether he knew or not it was obvious the man was devastated. He sat in his seat with his hands covering his face, slightly rocking back and forth. He left Toby with no doubts that no matter what her flaws may have been, the man in the navy blue suit loved her.  
The service started shortly after they had taken their seats. Heather’s parents sat in the front row next to her distraught boyfriend. The pastor took the podium and began his sermon. Toby only listened half heartedly, his thoughts returning again and again to the girl atop the horse in the picture. Despite her past crimes, Heather Blair didn’t deserve this. She was a person, and no matter how imperfect she might have been, this shouldn’t have happened to her. Toby thought about how only days before, she was alive, without a clue about the consequences her actions would have for her. Now she was dead, lying in the next room in a box, soon to be deposited into the earth, alone and forgotten. It was hard for him to imagine that she would never again breathe again and that in some small way he had a part in that. In one brief, violent moment everything she was and everything she would have been was taken away from her.  
Toby stood up and abandoned the room full of grievers. He entered back into the room where the body of unfortunate girl waited to be taken to her final resting place. The room was thankfully deserted as Toby approached her casket. He wondered if the lid was left unsealed. He quietly crept up to the coffin, listening closely to the sounds from the other room, trying to discern whether he would be discovered. When reached her casket, he quickly surveyed the room to be sure he was alone. Positive that there were no witnesses around, Toby shakily reached out his hand attempted to open the coffin’s lid. To his relief, it opened without noise. He lifted the lid a crack and reached into his jacket pocket and pulled forth a small envelope with a piece of paper inside. He carefully slide the envelope inside the casket and began to close the lid again but stopped. The urge to open the coffin the rest of the way and gaze upon the remains of Heather Blair came unbidden to his mind. He paused, hand still on the half opened lid, struggling with himself about what he was doing. Finally, he closed the lid and fled from the room, outside into the sunlight of the autumn afternoon. Inside her casket was the envelope he deposited containing a note within to Heather. It only had two words scribbled on it:  
I’m sorry.


	5. Chapter 5

PART 1  
.  
They say that time has a way of healing almost anything. And so was the case with Toby Williams.  
After the funeral, Toby was still guilt stricken over his part in the death of Heather Blair, but with each passing day, the guilt seemed to alleviate a little bit. While it was indeed his wish that called upon the Goblin King, he reconciled that it wasn’t his intent to have any harm befall the woman. In truth, he never even mentioned the woman’s name so responsibility for the incident laid solely on the Goblin King. And, while he still on occasions (like during the dark, early hours of morning when he couldn’t sleep) felt regret at his part in it, the years took much of the sting out of the old wound. With this set of reasoning, Toby was able to distance himself from the atrocious act and gradually absolve himself from any accountability. Eventually the incident became as foreign to Toby as if it happened in another time and a different place, not merely a few years ago and a few miles away.  
The attack on Heather Blair turned into something of an urban legend with wild fiction intertwined with facts, until one could scarcely recall where the truth ended and the fantasy began. Speculations of her death ranged from being attacked by rabid dogs to the feral bites of a lunatic killer. Some people believed that her ghost now haunted the park she was found in, and that her ghostly wails could be heard on moonless nights, re-enacting her brutal end. It was a story to be invoked during sleepovers and campouts. It was a story used to bring children home before nighttime settled in. Soon, the legend overtook the facts and some things which should never be forgotten often fade from memory.  
Toby went on with his life much the same way as before the accident. His time was balanced between school, football practice, hanging out with his friends and home life. As the years passed, he and his friends’ interests shifted from bikes and sleepovers to cars and parties. Things were going fairly well for him but the highlight of his adolescent life came on his sixteenth birthday when his father surprised him with a classic blue 1972 Nova SS with white rally stripes on the hood. His dad managed to buy it at auction for twenty three hundred. Everything else up to that point in his life dulled by comparison. Though it had a little surface rust around the rear fender wells and over a hundred thousand miles on it, Toby fell in love with it at first sight.  
His home life was also going well. Long gone were the days of parental discourse. These days, marital harmony was the norm. His father, after many years of loyal service to Reed and Vannoll Insurance, was rewarded with management of the home office when the owners expanded to include an office in the next town over. Along with a new title came a rather hefty wage increase and the Williams, while still not among society’s elite, were moving up the economic ladder. Karen Williams, no longer content being only a homemaker, volunteered at local animal shelters several hours during the week. Soon the family home was filled with brochures and posters of upcoming benefits and drives.  
The family’s good fortune extended to include Sarah as well. No longer the “starving actress” she used to kid about being, Sarah flexed her producing muscles as well. Along with starring in Miss Sarah’s Fairy Tale Cottage, she also produced a spinoff called ‘Hoggle’s Hut’. Though far from the Hollywood movie star she used to dream of being, Sarah was doing exceptionally well for herself. She moved out of her single bedroom apartment in the industrial part of her town to a spacious loft apartment in the more desirable arts district. Also, gone was the days of motoring around town in the family’s old station wagon. Now Sarah drove a 1998 BMW convertible, though she bought it used. She continued her close connection with her brother, occasionally inviting him over on the weekends and indulging him in her “big city living” which Toby made endless jokes of at her expense. Sarah’s idea of a night on the town consisted of going out to dinner at some ethnic restaurant (the last time he was there he got to explore Thai cuisine), either a movie, bowling or putt-putt golf (though one time she did take him go-kart racing which he thought was pretty cool), then home before midnight where she’d pour over pages of rewrites for her shows with a bowl of ice cream while he’d watch whatever was on the late night movie. Despite all his teasing, Toby loved going over for visits and just hanging out with his sister. Often they would sit up into the wee hours of the morning, talking and laughing. Those were the weekends he enjoyed the most.  
His school days were filled with homework and football. He maintained a steady A-B average, with an occasional bad mark showing up here or there for missing a homework assignment or skipping a quiz. On the football field, he still managed to dazzle the crowds and leave his opponents befuddled. Between football and school, there was the occasional homecoming and winter dances thrown in. While he never lacked female companionship for any of the dances, he was still a confirmed bachelor along with many of his friends. Toby didn’t have enough time, between practices, schoolwork and hanging out with his friends, to take a serious interest in having a steady girlfriend. In fact, Toby rather enjoyed his single status, preferring to have a wide selection of eager girls to choose to take out than being tied down to just one. But all that changed in the summer of 2002.  
In the summer before he started his senior year of high school, Toby really hit his stride. Now seventeen with his own set of wheels and devilishly good looking, he was at the pinnacle of his popularity. His days were spent with his friends hanging out at the pool or the local pizzeria. The evenings they would spend meeting up with girls at the frosty cup down the road from Shane’s house. There, the intricate flirting ritual of the elusive teenaged scholar would take place until curfew sent them scattering for home. Toby and his friends would often set up pool dates or intermittently take some of the girls they met there to the movies, but nothing of a permanent nature. When football practice started in August, Toby was still happily unattached.  
It was a warm summer afternoon that day during practice and the football team was practicing skirmishes. Toby was running the plays with his usual skill. In the pitch next to football field, the girls’ field hockey team was also running practice. He rarely took notice of the girls’ sports team, but on this day something caught his eye. A girl that he didn’t recognize was running full tilt towards the sidelines in a desperate bid to outmaneuver a girl on the opposing side and drive the ball back to her side of the field. Toby identified her pursuer; it was Candace Shaw, a girl that was in his Spanish class last year. Candace was tall, and built rather sturdily to put it nicely. Toby could see that it was going to be a close call; both girls were determined to reach the ball first, but it was the new girl’s stick that found the mark. She raised the ball right before the two of them collided; both girls sent sprawling to the ground from the impact. Candace was the first to recover and lent a hand to help the new girl up. That’s when Toby got a good look at her. She was slightly taller than average and lithe. Her skin was tanned from spending days outside and her legs, arms and now her face had grass stains from practice. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, which was knocked loose from her collision and soft wisps of honey brown hair curled naturally around her face. She had full cheeks and her mouth was drawn up in a cupid’s bow. But it was her eyes that really caught his attention. They stood out, even from a distance. They were wide set and blue, so blue that they looked almost sapphire. Toby watched as she brushed herself off. For a brief moment, she looked towards him and smiled lightly before rejoining her teammates. He stared after her, as if in a trance. He could have quite possibly watched her the rest of the afternoon but it was at that moment reality hit him, in the form of two of his own teammates plowing into him. Toby was lifted off his feet and unceremoniously slammed into the ground by two defensive linemen. The air rushed out of his lungs and for a second he thought he actually saw stars. He managed to keep the football from coming loose, at least sparing himself that disgrace. Toby laid there for a few minutes, listening to his coach yelling at him to get his head out of his ass and the defense congratulating his assailants, while he was trying to catch his breath. After a few more seconds, a familiar face was staring down at him with a dopey smile on his face.  
“You gonna get up now Sleeping Beauty?” Shane teased. He extended his hand down to his fallen teammate. Toby accepted the pre-offered hand and Shane yanked him up. “What happened there? I haven’t seen you get sacked since we were in grade school.”  
Toby shook his head to clear it. He gazed across the field to see if the new girl on the field hockey team saw his embarrassing performance. She seemed oblivious; her back turned towards him, eyes trained on her own game. Toby shook his head again.  
“I don’t know, I got distracted I guess.” He shot another glance across the pitch. Shane followed his gaze and smiled widely.  
“I can see that.” He joked. “Which one is it?”  
Toby’s eyes followed her as she made her way deep into the opposing team’s territory. “Number 24.” He muttered to Shane. Shane squinted his eyes trying to pick out his friend’s distraction. When his hazel eyes finally focused on the girl he gave a knowing smile and nod.  
“Oh, that’s the new girl, Angie Bernard.” He informed him. “Her family just moved here back in June. Lives out on the other end of town, down on Railroad Street, in the Stuarts’ old place.”  
“You know her?” Toby asked his friend immediately.  
Shane just shrugged. “I met her. My mom and her mom work in the same office. They introduced us at the company picnic. She is a hot little number.” He said with a wink.  
Toby felt a strange reaction to Shane’s words. It was an odd combination of suspicion and resentment towards his friend. Before he could retort, their coach was screaming at them to get back in formation and run the play over again. Toby managed to concentrate on his practice, only once diverting his attention when the girl’s team left their field. Toby felt a stab of regret that he wouldn’t get a chance to talk to her after his practice but consoled himself with the knowledge that he knew where she lived. He would just have to take a drive down to Railroad Street to see what was going on.  
After practice some of the guys were going to Gino’s to grab a couple slices and asked Toby if he was coming along. Toby excused himself, saying he had something important he had to do at home. A few of the guys joked that he had to go home and ice his ass after the stomping he took. The boys laughed uproariously and Toby grinned and came back with an equally cutting remark that he was surprised they could move their lard asses that fast. The other boys oh’d at his appropriately crude comeback and they departed company amidst well intended insults about each other’s poor playing skills. Toby threw his equipment into the backseat of his Nova. He pulled out of the empty parking lot and aimed his car in the direction of Railroad Street.  
It was a fifteen minute drive to get to the part of town Railroad Street was situated in. This was an older section of town, built up around the affluence the railroad brought back in the day. Most of the houses were older style brick homes with a few more contemporary homes dotting the street here and there. The Stuart house was the third house from the end of the street, comfortably bordered by evergreen shrubs on both sides of the large lawn. The house was a three story brick Colonial with a detached garage. The porch extended along the entirety of the front of the house and there were flowering bushes growing along it. A driveway lead up to a garage on the left side of the home, which was further back on the property than the house. Toby could see a mid-90’s Chevy Blazer parked in the drive and his heart stuttered in his chest knowing she was home. He drove past the old brick house closely scrutinizing it. At the end of the street, he took a left and did a U turn on the adjoining street. He turned back onto Railroad and was just making his second pass of the home when he spotted her dragging a garbage can down to the curb. Toby was shocked and nervous with the new development. He hadn’t expected her to show up on his drive-by! But there she was, on the sidewalk next to his lane of traffic, righting the trashcan she had just drug down for pick up. She looked up from her task as Toby’s car approached her. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and stared forward, not daring to cast a glance to the left or to the right. She watched as he drove past her. When he passed her house he looked in his rearview mirror. She was walking back to the house none the wiser that he had been checking her out. Toby sped up and quickly headed for home.  
The rest of his summer, consisted of him catching glimpses of her during practice and sometimes out around town. He couldn’t risk doing anymore drive-by’s of her house after the day she saw him. The last thing he wanted her to think was he was some creepy stalker. So he had to content himself with spying on her during practice and learning what he could about her from friends. He found out that she lived with her mom and younger sister, she was a midfielder on the girl’s field hockey team and she was going to be in his senior class. He preformed his espionage under the cloak of indifference, picking up little tidbits here and there, as to not arouse the suspicion of his friends. So he was distressed one day when he showed up for practice and she was the topic on everyone’s lips. Toby listened in with dread and apprehension. Chad Harter, one of the boys that had sacked Toby the last week, had ran into the pretty new girl at Gino’s Pizzeria the night before. He held the door for her as she was leaving with her order and followed her out to her Blazer. He chatted her up on the way to her ride, even opening the passenger side door for her to put the order in. Then he plucked up the nerve to ask her out for Friday night. Toby’s stomach clenched. He was too late! Someone else beat him to the punch! But his despair was short lived when he heard Angie’s reply to her would be suitor’s request. She turned him down on the grounds that she was new in town and didn’t know anyone well enough to be going out on dates. ‘Oh joyous news!’ his head screamed while his fellow teammates sympathized with their dejected comrade by ridiculing the hell out of him. Toby secretly smiled to himself. The new girl was out of play, at least until school began and she started meeting her classmates. Then it was game on. Toby felt fairly confident that his looks and popularity around school would at least give him a foothold in wooing his attractive new classmate. In fact, he considered himself, in all modesty, quite a catch. He was quarterback on the football team, had his own set of wheels and was a bit more than decent looking. Throw in his good grades, charming personality and witty humor and he was the total package. He was convinced once she got to know him, he could win her. All he had to do was wait for school to start. For once in his life, Toby was anxious to go back to school!  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
The first day of school came and Toby was ready for it. He was up early that morning, picking out the right outfit to wear. Ordinarily, the first day of school wasn’t something that he found very exciting but this year was different. This was the day that he would finally meet Angie Bernard! He couldn’t manage a meeting with her in the weeks proceeding up to school starting (the two of them being from opposite ends of town and he wasn’t able to set up a “coincidental” meeting during their practices) so Toby had to bide his time and wait to meet her in school. He was so anxious to get to school, he had his breakfast ate a full twenty minutes before he needed to. Not willing to wait, he left early and got to school before the doors unlocked.  
Toby waited around the courtyard for his friends to show up. Steadily his friends and teammates started trickling in. They stood around, talking and joking, but Toby only listened half heartedly. What his attention was really on was the buses pulling in and departing, watching the spill of students, waiting for her bus to come. Finally, his patience was rewarded. It was the last bus in the line and when it pulled up and opened its doors, he could see her through the windows. His heart skipped a beat. He watched her exit the bus and look around, searching out someone she knew. She was alone, Toby thought. Inside he was delighted. A lone girl at school was easy pickings, she would be grateful for anyone to latch onto just so she wouldn’t have to be outcast. Toby was just getting ready to make his move when Candace Shaw and two other girls on the field hockey team (one was Jennifer Conner, a tall, skinny senior and the other was a junior he only knew by her nickname ‘Magpie’ because she wouldn’t shut up) descended upon her. Toby silently cursed his bad luck. He watched the quartet, until they began to move towards the school entrance. By then Toby was on the move as well. He removed himself from his friends with an excuse of needing to get his homeroom assignment from the office. He followed the girls into the school to find out they were headed straight for the office, most likely to pick up Angie’s schedule. Seizing the opportunity, he followed them into the office.  
He walked in as causally as possible, and positioned himself at the front desk next to her. The one secretary was already helping the new girl, showing her where her classes were on the school map. Toby tried to inconspicuously peer over to get a look of what classes she had but before he could zero in on anything another office secretary was there asking if he needed any help. Toby’s cheeks colored a little when he saw that the secretary caught him eyeing up the new girl’s schedule and he quickly stammered out his request for his homeroom assignment. While the school secretary was looking over her chart, the first bell rang, and the girls departed from the office. Toby watched hopelessly as they split up in the crowd of students pouring into the halls, the new girl going with Jennifer, and Candace and Magpie heading in opposite directions down the hall. He quickly excused himself, leaving and bewildered secretary calling out if he wanted his homeroom number, and followed the junior down the hall. He caught up with her at her locker. Putting on his most devil may care look, he approached her.  
“Hey Magpie,” he started, but then realized he had no idea what he was going to say to her. Eyes scanning her locker and bag, he tried to find something he could comment on. Finally they settled on a CD she had in her bag. It was obviously a chick CD, some new singer called Ariana. Oh God no, he pleaded with himself, but he was already committed.  
“Is that her new CD?” he asked, managing not to gag.  
“The name is Maggie.” She said, before confirming who it was talking to her. Maggie looked up from her bag, and an expression of shock and amazement covered her face. She could scarcely believe that a senior, let alone the quarterback of the football team, was talking to her!  
“What? Oh, yeah, it’s uh, her latest one.” She recovered. Toby smiled at her. “If you like, I could burn you a copy.” She offered.  
“Could you?” he asked smoothly. This was going to be easy. “I mean if you have the time. I don’t want to trouble you. I know you’re busy with practice and all.”  
“Oh, it won’t be any trouble at all!” she gushed.  
“Thanks. Say Maggie, I saw you walk in with some new girl. Who’s she?”  
“Who?” she asked confused. Then he could see the light bulb go off in her head. “Oh her! Yeah, she just moved here. That’s Angie Bernard. She’s in your grade. We’re on the field hockey team together.”  
Toby just stood there smiling, waiting for her to earn her nickname. He didn’t have to wait long.  
“Yeah, she’s pretty cool. She transferred here from Rockland Falls, after her parents got divorced. She’s really good on the field. She’s one of our fastest midfielders. Oh, and she’s really smart too. She reads like all the time, and not just magazines and stuff. She always has her nose buried in books; she’s in American Lit and everything. And she’s into indie rock, yeah I know right? Some of the stuff she listens to is totally beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m as alternative as the next girl, but I like my music with a beat I can dance to. That’s so funny that you noticed my CD cause not many guys listen to Ariana. Did you see she was on the cover of Teen Beats? They did a really cool photo shoot on her…..”  
Maggie buzzed on some more about her favorite pop star but Toby wasn’t paying attention anymore. He thought he might have found an opening. He would just have to join her American Lit class. Not that Toby was a big literature fan; reading wasn’t a big priority for him. And it was an advanced academics class. But he did read ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ for his English class last year and he did get a B on his book report. How hard could it be to read a bunch of musty old books?  
“…..okay?”  
Toby hadn’t realized that the perky junior had been prattling on the whole time until she stopped and looked at him inquiringly. He quickly snapped out of his own thoughts.  
“Um, what?” he asked.  
Maggie didn’t seem to notice that the boy in front of her hadn’t been paying attention to her the whole time. “I said: I could have that CD burned off for you by tomorrow.”  
“Oh, yeah.” He muttered. “That would be cool.” At that time the warning bell sounded letting the students know that they had two minutes to get to their homerooms. Toby smiled broadly at her. “Better get going. Don’t want to late for homeroom.” With a wink, he left the thunderstruck girl beaming a great smile as he walked down the hall to his homeroom.  
Switching into the American Lit class was harder than he would have thought. As school policy, there was no class transfers allowed during the first week of school, so he would have to try to find another way to make his presence known to Angie Bernard. They didn’t share any classes together; she was in the higher math and history classes so his only bet was the AL class. They did share the same lunch period but she sat with her field hockey friends at one table and he sat with his friends at another. He did make eye contact with her in the halls a couple times and he smiled at her, but she was always surrounded by a group of girls. Why did they have to constantly travel in packs? Toby was starting to think that fate was plotting against him when luck smiled down on him in the form of an overly chatty junior.  
It was a few days later that he was walking to the cafeteria and was passing by Maggie’s locker. He noticed it was open and was contemplating going the opposite direction (after the first day, he tried to avoid her inane babbling) when she spotted him and called out and waved to him. Toby considered playing deaf and shooting down a side hallway when she closed her locker and hidden on the other side by the door was the very girl he was desperately trying to meet. He felt a tingle shoot down to his toes. Putting on his most winning smile, he strolled over to Maggie’s locker.  
“Hey Maggie, what’s up?” he asked the junior but his eyes never left the other girl’s face.  
“I’ve been looking for you all week!” she spurted. “I got that CD you wanted copied for you. I’ve had it in my locker waiting for you this whole time! Just let me dig it out for you….”  
As the scatterbrained girl opened her locker again and started digging through her books and personal effects, Toby casually stepped around her to speak to the new girl. It was the first time he got a good look at her up close. Her eyes were even bluer than he imagined, and they were hooded with long, thick eyelashes. He was mesmerized by them. She looked at him amiably, then a little cautiously. He finally realized that he was staring.  
“Hey, I’m Toby.” He said, looking down with a shamefaced grin.  
“I know who you are, you’re the football quarterback right?” she replied, smiling as well. He couldn’t help but swell a little with pride at her knowing who he was and nodded confirming her statement. “My name is Angie by the way. Angie Bernard.”  
“Nice to meet you Angie.” He bantered. Then he spied her American Lit book. “I see you’re in AL.”  
She glanced down at the book she held in her arms. “Oh, yeah.” She chuckled. “Mrs. Bach’s third period.”  
Toby filed that little tidbit away for future use. “That’s cool.” He commented.  
“I’ve been thinking about picking it up, you know, beefing up the college apps and all. Is it very hard?”  
“Mmmm, a little. The reading list is going to be brutal.” she admitted.  
“Here it is!” Maggie exclaimed. Toby turned to look at her. The brunette girl extended out her hand with CD in it, a pleased look on her face. “Ariana’s latest hits, just like I promised.”  
Toby cast an embarrassed look at the other girl. Angie raised her one eyebrow with a slight smirk on her lips. He smiled lamely and quickly took the CD. Any thoughts of impressing the new girl quickly disappeared. He was going to take a hammer to the damn disk the minute he got home.  
“Hey, we’re headed for lunch, care to join in?” Maggie asked brightly. The idea of sitting in a gaggle of high school girls, as Maggie’s guest, would have been enough to make him lose his appetite if he hadn’t already with the mortifying CD episode. Toby put on an appeasing smile, and jerked his thumb in the opposite direction.  
“Naw, I need to drop off a book at the library.” He lied poorly. The girls looked curiously at him. It was the beginning of school surely no library book was due yet. “I, uh, forgot to turn it in last year.” He amended awkwardly, “Man, the fines are gonna be killer.” With that, he turned down the hall and made his hasty exit.  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
The first few weeks of school, Toby spent trying to have as many encounters with Angie Bernard as possible. His biggest ally in this endeavor was Maggie Gillepsie (he finally found out her last name) being that every time she saw him in the hall, she would have to call him over. This worked out quite well for Toby, since most of the times, Angie was among the girls that would be with her and it would give him a chance to interact with her more. This was all well and good for him at first until he began to notice the moony eyed looks Maggie started to give him and the meaningful glances and smiles the other girls would give each other. At that point, Toby decided it would be best to start distancing himself from the infatuated junior before it got too serious. Besides, by then he had already transferred to Mrs. Bach’s third period American Lit class.  
Whatever preconceived notions that he might have had about the class in no way prepared him for what he was actually in for. By the time his transferal was completed, he was almost three weeks behind. They had already read The Old Man and the Sea and were into discussions already. Toby was merely handed a copy of the novel and expected to participate. Though new to the class, Mrs. Bach fully anticipated him to know the material. She frequently asked him questions and when he didn’t know the answer or answered incorrectly she would get a cryptic little smile on her face and mark something in her grade book. Toby felt certain it wasn’t a little smiley face next to his name. He had heard she had a grudge against football players, a rumor which was confirmed when she handed him back his first test. In big red ink on the top of the paper was a 23% and when she placed it upon his desk she smirked and told him that he should try reading the assignment instead of throwing the football around so much. He then knew he was dealing with a sadist.  
The only redeeming quality about the class was he managed to be seated behind Angie. Through a little bit of bribery, he secured the coveted seat from its former owner. This was his chance to strike up a conversation with her without any of her buddies hanging around. He tapped her shoulder during class one day, ready with his pretext. She turned in her seat.  
“Do you get any of this stuff?” he asked her displaying his copy of The Catcher in the Rye. “I mean, I don’t get this style.”  
“It seems pretty obvious.” She whispered. “It’s written in a subjective style from the point of view of its protagonist Holden Caulfield.”  
He stared at her as if she had just sprouted a second head. ‘Holy crap’ he thought, ‘I have no idea what she just said.’ Not wanting to abandon his plan, he muddled on.  
“I get that,” he said, even though he didn’t, “I just can’t tell what the here and now is. I mean one minute he’s looking at a table then the next he’s on a train to New York City. It’s so confusing.”  
“It’s meant to reflect his exact thought process.” She explained. “It’s supposed be disjointed, he’s telling the story through flashbacks.”  
Toby was impressed. This girl was obviously more than just a pretty face. She had some serious brains between her ears. This was working out perfectly. Setting his face in what he considered his most persuasive smile, he pressed on.  
“Whoa, I am never going to understand all this stuff. Maybe sometime this week we could get together for a little study session.”  
Angie dropped her head a little and brushed some loose hair behind her ear. She shifted in her seat.  
“Ummm, I can’t.” she replied. “I have to watch my little sister after practice.”  
“Well then maybe I can come over to your house then.” He proceeded not willing to be detoured.  
“That’s no good either my mom doesn’t like company over when she’s not home. Sorry.”  
“Is there a problem Mr. Williams?”  
The question was posed by the curmudgeonly Mrs. Bach. The rest of the class turned to see who she was admonishing. Toby looked up at getting caught, eyes a little wider than usual. Angie’s face flushed red and turned back around in her seat.  
“Um, no.” he replied guiltily, “There’s no problem.”  
“Then I would suggest you mind your own book and quit disturbing your classmates.” She responded curtly.  
Toby nodded his head and trained his eyes back on his book. But it wasn’t Holden Caulfield he was concentrating on at that moment. It was his utterly failed attempt to ask Angie out. To say it stung his pride a little was an understatement and Toby dwelled on his strike out with Angie for days afterwards. He was vexed with her hesitance to spend any kind of time with him after school. Was it something he said or the way he said it? He reviewed their verbal exchange in his head. Nothing he said seemed out of line. Toby wasn’t used to this kind of reaction from girls when he asked them out, usually the object of his asking was thrilled to be going out with him. Yet she reacted as if she was trying to get out of jury duty. He pondered over it, replaying the episode in his head over and over. Why did she have to respond like that?  
Despite being shot down, Toby still pursued her and they gradually started being friends. He would frequently call her with the excuse of having a question about AL, which proved less of an excuse and more of an actual necessity. They hung out together between classes, sometimes with her friends, sometimes with his. During lunch he would sometimes drag Shane with him and eat lunch with her and her friends. His friends actually took quite a liking to her and there was some integration going on between the field hockey team and the football team because of it. But it was all platonic, on her side at least. Toby could never manage to push it to the next level. He subtle flirting and compliments were received with friendly indifference. And he wasn’t ready to ask her out again, not after his first burn. So Toby was left in a type of relationship limbo, caught somewhere between friends and sweethearts.  
It was during this time, Sarah stopped by on one of her semi-regular bi-weekly visits. She pulled in early Sunday afternoon with some collections she got from around the studio for a pet food drive Karen was running for the shelter. Sarah was one of Karen’s favorite tools for her charity work. As a local celebrity, Sarah could use her notoriety to assist the shelter. And could she bring in the donations! With her vivacious personality and her considerable powers of persuasion, she was a natural. This day, she had pulled into the driveway with a SUV she borrowed from a friend, with the back full of cat and dog food. Karen was giddy with excitement and praised Sarah liberally for her help.  
“Thank you, thank you.” Sarah said as she gave a mock bow. “Save the applause and just send money. Or, better yet, a good home cooked meal. I think I recall you promising me lasagna the next time I came around for a visit?”  
“I just put it in the oven.” Karen confirmed. “Toby, help your sister unload this into the garage. I would send your father out but he threw his back out the other day.”  
“Yeah, chasing her around the house again.” He mumbled under his breath so only Sarah could hear. Sarah bit her lips together to suppress her laughter. When Karen returned into the house, they both broke out laughing.  
“You are such a cheeky little monkey!” she said with false British accent. With a broad smile and cheery wink she asked, “What’s up with you these days baby brother?”  
“Not a lot. Just school and football. It looks like we’re gonna make it to districts.” He bragged a little.  
“Well good for you Tobes!” she exclaimed with her back to him, opening the hatchback to unload the pet food. “You guys are really kicking butt this year. They did a write up on you guys in the sports section of our newspaper even.”  
“Yeah, we’re really pumped about that.” Toby said. He shuffled around timidly, trying to find the best why to word what he was going to say next. “Um, Sarah, I was hoping I could talk to you about something.”  
“Oh?” she said, turning to hand off a large bag of dog food to him. “What about?”  
Toby stacked the bag in the corner. He fidgeted a little before answering her.  
“Well there’s this girl in school…..”  
“Oh our young Toby is becoming a man!” she cried out clasping her hands together.  
Toby felt a sting of humiliation at his sister’s teasing. It was promptly followed by irritation.  
“Never mind.” He snapped at her. “You can unload this by yourself.”  
He turned to storm into the house. Here he was, baring his soul, and she was making fun of him!  
“To-by!” she wheedled. When he didn’t stop she could tell she really pissed him off.  
“Toby!” she called after him a little frantically. He stopped and turned back to her, with a disgruntled look on his face and his hand on the doorknob.  
“Hey, sorry, sorry! Just kidding!” she apologized quickly.  
“Yeah, well it wasn’t funny.” He grumbled at her. He turned back around and went back to help her.  
She handed him another bag. “So, who’s this girl?” she asked somberly.  
“Her name is Angie Bernard. She’s in my American Lit class. She just moved here in the summer.”  
“So what’s going on between you and this Angie Bernard?”  
“See that’s just the thing,” he sighed, “there’s nothing going on. We hang out at school and get along really well but she doesn’t seem to want to be anything more than friends.”  
“Well, have you told her how you feel?”  
He seemed puzzled. “What?”  
Sarah rolled her eyes as she handed him another bag. “Guys.” She mumbled. “You talk forever about sports but can’t put two words together to speak to a girl about how you feel. What is it about guys being unable to talk about their feelings?”  
The very word made Toby cringe. “You know this is going to be hard enough talking to you about without you bringing feelings into it.” he said, taking the bag from his sister. Sarah held her hands up in a surrendering gesture but said nothing. “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tried.”  
“Yeah? Well how’d that go?”  
“Not so hot.” He admitted taking another bag from her. “I suggested we get together after school to work on our American Lit and she got…. I don’t know. All weird like”  
Sarah scrunched her face a little. “What do you mean?”  
“I don’t know, she was all like ‘I can’t cause my mom will have a cow and I have to watch my little sister.’ She was making up all kinds of excuses.”  
She handed Toby another bag. “Ooohhhh,” she said kind of lamentably.  
He dropped the bag in the corner. “ ‘Oh’?” he asked a little worried. “What? What do you mean ‘oh’?”  
She grimaced a little when she turned back to Toby. “Well Tobes,” she hedged, “I don’t know this girl or anything but it kinda seems like she might be trying to give you the brush off, but in a totally nice kind of way.” She added when she saw his head drop. This is what Toby had feared. He had heard about guys who got the brush off with the ‘we can still be friends’ line. While technically she hadn’t said that to him, it was the vibe he was getting from her. Damn it. He had remained hopeful that he was misreading the situation but now with Sarah pointing out the obvious to him the outlook seemed bleak. Sarah could sense his despondency and tried to spin a positive out of the situation.  
“But hey, what do I know? It could be that it just wasn’t a good time for her. Maybe her mom doesn’t like her having guests over, you never know.”  
Toby perked up a little bit and took another bag from his sister. “Yeah maybe. What do you think I should do?”  
“Gee Tobe, I don’t think I’m the best person to be asking about relationship advice.” She cautioned. “Seeing that I’m well on my way to confirmed spinsterhood.”  
“Well, you’re a girl,” he said. Sarah cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows. “you know what I mean. How could a guy get your attention?”  
She handed him another bag and twirled melodramatically. “You mean to sweep me off my feet?” she added with a flourish. Then she continued, more seriously “I don’t know Tobe. I always thought I wanted a guy to come along and woo me with pretty words and fancy speeches proclaiming his undying love to me.” She paused in thought. “But truthfully, honesty goes a lot farther.”  
Toby let out a small grunt. What he wanted was his sister to give him some tips on how to win Angie over but she was just going back to this sharing his feelings crap, and he was not going to do that, at least not until he was more certain of what her feelings were.  
“That’s the last one.” Sarah informed him. She wiped her hands off on her jeans and closed the hatchback. Toby stacked it in the corner with the others. He had one last niggling question he wanted to ask her.  
“Hey Sarah, do you think she might be interested in another guy?”  
Sarah could see the desperate hope hidden in his eyes. She wanted to assure him that there was no way, how could she? But she also wanted to be honest with him. It would do him no good to build up his hopes only to have them shot down.  
“I don’t know Toby, maybe.” she told him honestly. “But there’s no reason to go worrying about what ifs. Besides, you just keep being your everyday wonderful self and I have a feeling she won’t be able to resist you.”  
Toby seemed to brighten a little. Sarah went up to her brother, and plopped her right arm across his shoulders.  
“Come, young Toby!” She exaggerated in a barbarian voice. “I hunger, let’s eat!” Toby twined his arm around her waist as they walked towards the door. He had just one more thing to ask her.  
“So you think I’m wonderful?”  
Sarah’s answer was a smack to the back of his head.  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
Toby went to school the next day feeling more optimistic than the week before. Sarah was right. There was no reason to get himself worked up over the possibility of another guy being in the picture. Surely if there was someone sniffing around, he would have spotted them and would have discouraged them accordingly. And even though she was his sister, he really did believe that if he kept up with his attentions that Angie would eventually come around. All she needed was a little more time.  
With his confidence returned, he pulled into the front parking lot at the high school. He was in a great mood. The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the leaves were getting a tinge of fall color around their edges. He cut the engine to his Nova and gathered his books off the seat beside him. He walked up the lawn towards the front doors. All the buses had gone by now and there were students scattered all about, soaking up the pleasant autumn morning before first bell sounded. Toby started scanning the crowd looking for his friends. After driving himself crazy about the Angie situation the whole weekend, he felt like a little time with his buddies would settle his nerves a bit. Besides, maybe he should give her a little taste of what it’s like without him around so much, see how she handled that.  
He just spotted Shane and two other friends off the football team (Cole and Nate) and was headed over to the courtyard to join them when his eyes strayed down the sidewalk further. There was a low wall that stretched out along that particular span of walk and students were perched along it like birds. Near the end of the wall was Angie Bernard. And she wasn’t alone.  
Toby stopped dead in his tracks. On her right side was some of the girls on her team, Maggie and Jennifer but on her left was a guy. Not just any guy, but Todd Adams. They had their heads bent down looking at a book that was between them occasionally looking at each other while speaking. Toby felt an angry beast leap into him and take control. He walked over to where they were sitting, not sure of what he was going to say. When he got closer to them, Maggie noticed his approach and called out to her friends that Toby was there. Toby walked directly up to the pair, completely ignoring what Magpie was babbling on about. The two looked up at him and Angie got a smile on her face.  
“Hey Toby,” she said sweetly, “I’m thinking about going out for the musical. What do you think? Think I got the voice for it?”  
Toby opened his mouth once, then twice but nothing came out. Angie stared at him, waiting for him to say something. She couldn’t sense the turmoil he was struggling with. Somebody finally did speak up, but it wasn’t Toby.  
“I think she would be a great addition to our little theatre group.” Todd said merrily. Toby turned his attention to the boy that was sitting next her. He was looking up at him with a friendly smile on his face. “You have to help me convince her to go out for it, she sings like an ange-”  
That was all the farther Todd got before Toby’s fist smashed into his face.  
An hour later his mom was in the office speaking to the principal about his attack on Todd Adams. Toby sat outside the principal’s office, his clothes disheveled and a bruise darkening below his eye. Todd was no where to be found. After their brawl was broken up, Todd was taken directly to the nurse’s office where she declared his nose to be broken upon sight. He was taken immediately to the hospital to have it set.  
Toby received no such niceties, not even an ice pack for his eye. After being identified as the instigator of the fight, he was escorted straight to the office. Principal Moss lectured him for at least a half an hour about the rules on fighting then his mother arrived then he was banished to the waiting room while they discussed his punishment. And there Toby sat, awaiting his fate.  
The principal’s door opened and he called him back inside. Toby looked at the principal, then his mother. He could tell by the look on her face that his goose was cooked. She said nothing though (but he was sure that would only last until they were out of sight of any witnesses) and stood there, impassive. The principal invited him to sit down before he passed his sentence. Toby was suspended from school for a week and prohibited from participating in any school activities. This made him ineligible to play in the football game on Friday. Toby felt a crushing sensation in his chest. It was an important game. There was only two games left in the season and if they won Friday’s game, they would be going to districts, whether they win the last game or not. He felt the loss acutely. He meant to argue with the fairness of the verdict but wisely swallowed his objection when he saw the stern look on both his mom’s and the principal’s face. Principal Moss went on to explain that he would still be expected to complete all class assignments for the week and make up any missed tests before he was allowed to participate in any football games. Toby shook his head sadly in agreement. Then he was given permission to go to his locker to collect his books before his expulsion went into effect.  
To say Karen Williams was angry with her son would have been a gross understatement. She was livid and made Toby fully aware of her fury when they arrived home. The first thing she did was intercepting him at the door of his Nova and demanded the keys from him, promising that he wouldn’t be driving for a very, very long time. Then she said as soon as his father got home, they would go over to that boy’s house and he would apologize and offer to pay for any out of pocket medical expenses they might have incurred. He was grounded for a whole month, no phone, no tv, he was prohibited from all activities with his friends and sentenced to hard labor on the weekends. And no more football. For Toby, it was the end of the world. He begged and pleaded with his mother but she remained unwavering. But the football gods smiled down on Toby when his dad got home and reasoned with his mother that it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team if they missed their chance at districts. His mother only relented when he bargained with her to help out at the animal shelter.  
The first part of his punishment was to apologize to Todd. That evening, the Williams family paid the Adamses a little visit. Mrs. Adams answered the door and was emotionless when Toby asked if he might be allowed to see Todd. She allowed him entry into her home and called for her son who was upstairs. Todd came slowly down the steps and Toby got his first look at Todd post fight. His nose was swollen and had medical tape stretched across its bridge and the skin underneath his eyes were discolored. He narrowed his gaze when he saw who the company was but said nothing. Toby then proceeded with an uncomfortable apology to the boy and told him he had no excuse for hitting him and offered to pay for his medical bills. Todd’s mother nodded her head, emotion still devoid from her face. Todd accepted his apology and with a little nudging from their parents, the boys shook hands. Roger Williams thanked Mrs. Adams for their time and told her to send them any bills as soon as they got them.  
The rest of the week Toby was at the mercy of his mother, who was an unrelenting task master. His days were filled with manual labor; cleaning the garage, clearing up the attic, cleaning the gutters. He was even vulnerable to doing the laundry, washing dishes and mopping the floors. He looked forward to the days his mother went to the shelter so he could have some time off for himself. But that was a pipe dream. His mother simply loaded him up into the car and if Toby thought digging rotting leaves out of the gutters was bad, he found scooping up after the shelter’s residents even worse.  
His evenings were for keeping up with his schoolwork. Every afternoon Shane would drop by with his homework assignments. His mom would give the boys fifteen minutes to go over his assignments before hustling Shane off. Of course the first night he came over, all Shane wanted to talk about was the fight.  
“You sure knocked the crap out of him!” Shane spewed. “What the heck happened? Everyone at school said it started cause he bad mouthed you. What’d he say? Ang said they were just sitting there when you came over and just started waling on him.”  
Toby didn’t want to admit to his lifelong friend that the sight of his old rival chatting it up with his love interest drove him to a fit of jealousy and he took a swing at him. That was the last thing he wanted to admit to him. He didn’t want it to get back to Angie that the fight was started over her. Thinking on his feet, he said he heard that Todd had called him a pussy for getting knocked around during practice the day he when was watching Angie. Shane bought his lie.  
“Who’s he to go calling you a pussy?” he snorted contemptuously. “I mean he’s in drama club for God’s sake.”  
Toby was relieved his friend believed his story. Even though Shane was his best friend, he knew he would ride his ass mercilessly and it would be all over the school the next day that Toby was in love with Angie. He couldn’t stand the thought.  
As his suspension drug on, Toby’s mind drifted to Angie. It drove him crazy not knowing what she thought about what happened. Did she hate him for decking the other boy? He stewed over what kind of relationship she had with Todd. He couldn’t ask Shane without arising suspicion. He attempted call to her, one time, at much risk to himself. He was cleaning up the dishes after supper (another of his menial punishments) while his parents were in the living room watching the evening news. He ever so cautiously snuck over to the phone and quietly dialed the number. If he were to get caught, he would never be allowed out of the house again, but he didn’t care. He had to speak with her. He had no idea what he was going to say. He only knew that he had to talk to her. It turned out all for naught though because her mother answered the phone and told him she was out with a friend. Toby felt bitter disappointment as he hung up the phone. ‘Was that friend Todd Adams?’ he thought fiercely. He tried to put the idea out of his mind and occupy his thoughts about the game that was coming up. Without him allowed to play his replacement was likely to be Cole. He mentally winced a little bit. While Cole wasn’t a bad second string quarterback, he wasn’t Toby. Though he hoped for a victory, Toby doubted that Cole would be able to carry the game.  
Friday night’s game went as sadly predicted. The team lost, though only by a slim margin, 24-21. Toby read about it in Saturday’s newspaper. He was disheartened by the news. If he had played in the game the night before, they might have won and would be going to districts. Instead, he got suspended and was stuck at home, cleaning dishes and struggling with his AL homework. But the team still had one more shot. If they won this last game coming up they could still make it into districts. Toby was resolute that they would win.  
All things come to an end and so it was the same with Toby’s suspension. Monday morning came with him feeling eager to get back to school and be with his friends. Even though his suspension was up he was still grounded and reduced to riding the bus to school until his mother deemed him worthy of his car keys again. He exited the bus to the sound of laughter from his friends. He grinned roguishly as he was welcomed back by his fellow classmates with pats on the back and updates of all he missed. He laughed when the other boys ragged on Cole for his performance on Friday night saying he couldn’t hit the toilet if he were squatting over it. Cole (in his defense) blamed it on the receivers who, in his opinion, must have had butter on their hands. They all tormented Shane for an apparent crush he was developing on Candace Shaw, which he denied fervently. But when confronted with sitting next to her during lunch on Friday, he blushed and told them to screw off, which only convinced them further of his infatuation with the brawny girl. He finally had enough when they picked on him about taking her to homecoming Saturday night and wondered out loud who would be wearing the dress. At that point he stood up, called them all dicks and stalked off, their riotous laughter following him. Toby felt a bad for his friend though not for long. He was the next target of their ridicule and he got some harassment about decking Todd, saying he did it not out of defending his good name but to impress a female student. He panicked a little over the allegation until he heard who he was trying to impress, Maggie Gillepsie, and they joked about how he was able to keep her quiet long enough to kiss her. Toby lightheartedly threw some jabs at his accusers before the first bell rang and they dispersed for their homerooms.  
Once inside the school, Toby headed straight for Angie’s locker. He was very anxious to speak to her. He wasn’t sure how she viewed the situation and needed to know how she felt. As he rounded the corner into the hall where her locker was located he spotted her along with Candace, Jennifer and (much to his shock) Shane. ‘So it must be true’ he thought to himself. Shane had a thing for Candace. He couldn’t help but get a little smirk on his face. The secretive little shit didn’t even tell him about it. He was so going to jump his ass about it the first chance he got. The crowd at her locker dissolved before he got there which pleased him very much. He would prefer to do his talking without extra ears around. He approached her at her locker.  
“Miss me much?” he said as he leaned against the neighboring locker. He sounded much more confident than he felt. In fact his insides were fluttering nervously, worried at her reaction. She gave him a startled look at first which cooled immediately when she recognized who was speaking to her. ‘Crap.’ he thought ‘she’s pissed.’  
“I didn’t realize your suspension was up already.” She commented as she kept rummaging through her locker.  
“Yeah, well they couldn’t keep me away.” He joked. He tried giving her a dazzling smile but only managed an unenthused grin. She was not impressed and closed her locker and with books in hand turned and headed for her home room. Toby fell in step behind her.  
“Hey c’mon.” he hurried to keep up with her, “Don’t be like that.”  
“Be like what?” she asked without looking at him  
“Mad.” He responded.  
She had just reached the door to her homeroom when she turned to confront him. She had a very dispassionate look on her face. “Am I mad?” she questioned him. Toby knew that it was a rhetorical question but answered anyway.  
“Well if you’re not, you sure do a great imitation of it.” he retorted probably a little sharper than he meant to. She narrowed her eyes at him and turned to enter the classroom. He grabbed her arm frantically. She turned back to him with a disbelieving look on her face. Toby quickly tried to explain.  
“Just give me a minute to explain-” he started before she cut him off.  
“There is nothing to explain!” she burst out, yanking her arm out of his grasp. Then she lowered her voice when she saw she was drawing the attention of other students entering the homeroom. “I know exactly why you sucker punched Todd and quite frankly, I find it disgusting. You have no right treating him like that just because of his….. orientation! I thought you were better than that but you’re no better than the rest of those knuckle dragging bigots!”  
Toby was completely confounded at her words. What the hell was she talking about? He presumed she knew the fight was over her but describing Todd’s liking her as an orientation and calling him a bigot was baffling to him. He only ever heard the word orientation used when talking about…… then it finally clicked for him.  
“You mean Todd’s… gay?” he whispered closely to her.  
“As if you didn’t know!” she hissed back. “You know it’s people like you that are the reason he’s afraid to come out!”  
Toby was floored. He had no idea about Todd! This was quite the revelation. His heart took a leap of joy, there was nothing going on between the two of them! Toby had never been more relieved about a soemone being gay than he was at that moment. But now wasn’t the time to think about that. He had to convince Angie that wasn’t the reason he pounded on him.  
“Angie, wait! I had no idea about Todd, honest to God!”  
“Yeah right.” She scoffed.  
“I didn’t!” he protested.  
“Oh really? Well then do you mind explaining to me exactly why you clobbered him?”  
Toby was a deer in the headlights. He was torn between confessing his angsty love he had for her or being accused of a hate crime. Neither one was very appealing to him. He stood before her dumbly trying to find a third option when he was saved by the bell, literally. The two minute warning bell sounded alerting students to get to their homerooms. Angie huffed and turned to go into her homeroom. Now was his last chance.  
“Just give me a chance I’ll explain it all later.” He promised, opting to stall the inevitable.  
She gave him a black stare then turned, leaving him standing in the hallway. Toby left and sprinted down the hall trying to get to his own homeroom before the final bell. He bound in the room just as the last bell rang. His homeroom teacher gave him a scornful look but only told him to close the door behind him.  
Toby had to think long and hard about how he was going to handle this situation with Angie. He had until their third period AL class to come up with a viable excuse. Anything was better than the options he had now. Maybe she’d buy the reason he told Shane the other night? Doubtful, but it was better than the alternatives. He wracked his brain trying to come up with an excuse she would find acceptable but by the time third period rolled around, he had no better ideas than before.  
As it happened, on that day Mrs. Bach’s AL class was starting their book reports on American authors so they would be spending the week researching in the library. This was perfect for Toby. While Mrs. Bach was an eagle eyed tyrant in her own classroom, the library was a different domain. She couldn’t possibly keep a close watch over all her students, spread throughout the library with stacks in which they could confer in and have secret conversations. Toby decided this would be the best opportunity he would have to speak with Angie. If only he could catch her at a calm enough moment to give her his explanation, whatever that was. All he could do was watch and wait until he could get a quiet moment alone with her.  
Such a moment presented itself when Angie got up from her assigned table to browse the shelves for a book. Now was his chance. Toby cast a cautious look around to see where Mrs. Bach was. Her all seeing eyes were buried in the day’s newspaper. He carefully got up from his table and followed her into the rows of books. He found her in the third row, an open book in her hands, skimming its contents. He drew in a sharp breath. She looked beautiful. Whatever had been preying upon his mind up until then simply melted away. It was at that moment he knew what he had to say. Anything less then the truth would be unacceptable. Toby softly walked up to her and peered over her shoulder at the book.  
“What are you reading?” he asked quietly. Angie started a little bit at his close proximity but quickly regained her composure. “Sorry.” He whispered for scaring her. She calmly replaced the book to its shelf and drew out the one beside it. “I’m looking for a biography on S.E. Hinton.” She informed him. A light bulb went off in his head. He knew this guy!  
“Isn’t he the guy that wrote The Outsiders?” he asked proudly.  
“Yes, she is.” She corrected him. She examined the book in her hand and added it to a pile she was collecting in her arm. She moved down the row further. Toby followed. It was now or never.  
“Listen Angie, about that fight with Todd-” he started.  
“Save it.” she cut him off. “I don’t care what you have to say.”  
Toby felt his face flush and panic start to creep in. He had to get it out, make her understand. Let her know that he wasn’t the awful person she thought he was, that the whole thing was a misunderstanding. He would tell her the truth, all of it. About the first day he saw her on the field hockey pitch and how he drove by her house that very night to see her again. He wanted to tell her he hated Ariana and he just had Maggie make him that CD so he could finally meet her. He wanted to tell her how he switched into Mrs. Bach’s hellacious class just to sit behind her. He was going to tell her everything if she would just listen.  
“Look,” he started again, “I can explain everything. If you just give me a minute to-”  
“No need to explain.” She assured him, picking out another book. “Shane told me all about it.”  
Toby was taken aback.  
“Shane?” he asked confused. What the hell did Shane have to do with this?  
“Yes.” She confirmed. “He told me everything. And while I don’t agree with him calling you a dirty name, you still could have handled it better instead of going postal on him.”  
Toby was still confused. When did Shane tell her this? Why did he tell her anything? As far as he knew they hardly ever talked, save when the three of them were walking down the halls or at lunch together. This was all too perplexing to Toby but it all came together with perfect clarity when she reached up to pull out another book. That’s when he spied it. There, on the middle finger of her left hand was a class ring.  
He could tell right away that it was a boy’s class ring. It held a large emerald in its center and on the side it had an engraved image of a football. Toby would have recognized that ring anywhere, even without seeing the name he knew was carved on the other side of the ring. It was Shane’s.  
All the pieces fell together then. His being at her locker that morning, sitting at her lunch table on Friday. He wasn’t interested in Candace at all. He was after Angie.  
Toby felt all the blood drain from his face. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. His senses were on overload. He could hear the dull thumping of his heart in his ears. He could feel the slight prickle on the back of his neck as the hairs stood on end. His mouth filled with a coppery taste that he associated with the gut wrenching feeling he was experiencing. But none of that compared with the overwhelming sense of wretchedness he felt. It flooded in, filling every corner of his being. But it wasn’t alone. A sharp feeling of betrayal traveled with it. It was the sense of betrayal that helped Toby find his voice again.  
“Well, I guess I can always count on him to save the day.” He said dryly. “And get the girl to boot.”  
Angie could hear the bitterness in his voice. She looked him in the face and briefly saw the pain in his eyes before they hardened. An apathetic mask quickly covered his normally pleasant features. She was disquieted by this sudden change in his mood and wanted to ask what was wrong. But before she had a chance to even clear her throat, he turned away from her and strode out of not only the row of the row of books, but the library as well.  
.  
.  
PART 5  
.  
Toby was in hell. There was no better way of putting it. In one fatal swoop he felt like he lost both his best friend and the girl he was in love with. It was a blow his already battered ego couldn’t deal with.  
Toby went through the rest of the day on auto pilot; going through the actions, devoid of emotions, avoiding friends and acquaintances. A few times his friends would catch up with him in the hallways between classes but quickly sensed that he was not in the mood for company and would fade back into the crowd. Others, like Maggie Gillepsie, would cheerfully call to him, oblivious to his dark mood. He walked past her without even an acknowledgement that she was there. He didn’t care. He knew of nothing other than the piercing pain in his chest.  
At lunch, he sat with his usual crowd, hearing the conversations around him but not joining in. The guys at his table tried to bait him in about having PMS but Toby wasn’t rising to the challenge. He just continued to eat his lunch mechanically not even giving an indication that he heard them. His friends discovered soon enough that he was in no mood to jest and moved on to other topics. Unfortunately one of the topics was a rumor that Shane was dating Angie. One that was undeniably confirmed when Shane entered the cafeteria with his tray and sat down at the table next to the girl in question. The guys at the table whooped and hollered at him as he took his position next to her. Shane looked up with an embarrassed smile, waved them off and turned his attention to his new girlfriend. All the guys at the table snickered at him good naturedly and a couple of them let out a few cat calls. All except Toby. He watched the new couple in silent resentment, his heart growing colder with each beat. It was torture for him to watch but he couldn’t turn away. Nothing escaped his keen sight. The way they leaned in intimately when they spoke to one another, the shy smile that played across her lips when Shane would whisper something close to her ear, how he brushed a finger along her arm when they were listening to one of their lunch companions. He saw it all and was damned for seeing it.  
The rest of the day, Toby spent avoiding Shane. It really wasn’t much of a task, since they didn’t share any classes together this quarter and he would have to miss football practice to make up a test in Algebra and History. He had never been so glad to miss a practice before in his life. On this day he preferred the solitude of the empty classroom to the bustling of the locker room.  
His mood carried over when he got home as well. He had very little to say to either of his parents. Karen noticed his sullen mood immediately. At first she assumed he was still upset over his grounding but as the evening wore on her motherly instincts told her that it was something more. After dinner, as he was clearing the dishes away she stole into the kitchen to ask her son what was wrong. Toby, still in no mood to talk, knew he had to give her some reason otherwise she would make a huge production out of it. He blamed his sour mood on the loss on Friday night and being worried about the upcoming game against Glendale. Karen Williams evaluated what her son told her and wasn’t buying it. She knew it was something more than just a football game but chose not to voice her opinion. Whatever it was, he obviously didn’t want to share it with her. Instead, she went along with his explanation, kissed his cheek and told him not to worry about the dishes.  
Ordinarily Toby would have been excited about being excused from scullery duty but tonight it made no difference to him. He trudged up the steps to his room eager for seclusion. In his room, he flopped down on his bed, exhausted from the day. His mind turned sluggishly over the day’s events, replaying them in every painful detail. Finally at some point he drifted off to sleep.  
Toby awoke the next day remarkably refreshed from his sleep, with little wonder as to why, he had been asleep for ten hours. He felt a little jag of pain from the day before but was determined not to let it get control of him. Sure, the girl he was pining over for the last few months was now dating his best friend, but he would get over it. Girls come and go right? He felt his loss and now it was time to move on. And so what if Shane was dating her? He had no idea that Toby had designs on her. It’s not like he intentionally set out to steal her from Toby. Armed with this set of logic, he set out to master the day.  
Throughout the day, Toby tried to assure himself that everything was back to normal. He was back to hanging out with his friends and even with some of the field hockey girls. This was indeed a delight for Maggie, who rattled his ear off about all that had happened the week before during his absence. Things were back to the same old, same old. The only noticeable difference was the absence of Shane and Angie from the groups. The couple was busy enjoying the new relationship away from the company of others. Toby shrugged it off, convinced it was only indifference he felt over it. After all, there was no use crying over spilt milk.  
Since they were still having class in the library, Toby was relieved of any interaction he might have between himself and Angie. This suited Toby just fine since their relationship was strained at the moment. They only had one incident amid the shelves where he was coming out and bumped into her and she dropped a book. Toby courteously picked it up for her and excused himself without so much as a hesitation. He inwardly congratulated himself for handling the situation without any awkwardness and went about his business.  
Football practice was the only time he had any extensive interaction with Shane other than their brief meetings in the halls. Their banter was as it ever was with the exception that Toby was just a touch more aggressive with his slams than before. Shane took it in stride though, laughing off his friend’s barbed comments and letting loose with some of his own. On the field, however, evidence of something more amiss was coming to light. Toby was throwing more to his other wide receiver than to Shane, something that didn’t escape his teammates’ notice. But his was still throwing with dead on accuracy so nothing was mentioned about it.  
As the week progressed, Toby’s attitude was becoming more agitated and hostile. Most of his friends attributed it to the game coming up on Friday and gave him a wide berth when they saw him coming. Others, that were closer to him, could sense something else was weighing on the young quarterback’s mind but couldn’t name it. But whatever it was that was eating at him, everyone was susceptible to his moodiness.  
Toby focused all his attention on the upcoming game becoming determined to make it to districts. His practices became more intense. He would run his plays sometimes three or more times until his receivers were worn down, and still he would push them more. He would make them run longer and faster for his throws and berate them when they missed a pass. Finally his teammates had enough and nominated Shane to talk to him.  
“Hey Tobe,” Shane called out to him as he ran up to him. “you got us running around all over out there. What gives?”  
He turned to the boy that had been his best friend since the fourth grade. Who was he to question his methods, acting as if Friday was going to be a pick up game at the park? This was their last chance for districts and he was going to make sure they were ready for it. The thread that had been winding tighter and tighter in him finally snapped.  
He looked at the shorter boy with a vicious glint in his eye.  
“What are you getting at?” he jeered at him. “Do you think I’m running practice too hard for you? In case you didn’t realize, this Friday is our last chance to go to districts.”  
Shane easily recognized the disdain in his voice and rose to it. His normally jolly face faded away and he matched Toby’s glare.  
“No I don’t think practice is too tough.” He declared. “You haven’t tossed a ball at me all afternoon. If anything I’m bored off my ass.”  
Toby stepped closer to his friend. Shane angrily held his ground.  
“Is that so?”  
“Yeah, it is.”  
The two glared at each other for several seconds, neither one willing to back off. The other boys on the field started gathering around, sensing the tension between the two boys. Finally, with an evil grin, Toby conceded.  
“Fine, you want to catch a pass, I’ll set you up with one.”  
The boys separated and lined up in formation. Toby called for the hike and Shane pushed past the scrimmage line getting ready to break to the left. Before he had a chance, Toby threw to him up the middle. Shane had to back step a little to catch the ball. As he turned to make his way up the field the free safety came out of nowhere and laid him out.  
Shane had regained his feet and went charging up to Toby, whipping his helmet at him as he did.  
“What the hell kind of play was that?” Shane shouted at him.  
Toby stood his ground, unfazed by his outburst. And ugly grin curled the corners of his mouth.  
“Just getting you ready for the game tomorrow.” He taunted. “You wanted a pass, so I gave you one, not my fault you couldn’t handle it. Or do you think Glendale is going to baby your candy ass?”  
That’s when all hell broke loose.  
Shane, who was standing only a few feet away from him, reached out and gave Toby a mighty shove. Toby responded and took a swing at him. At the last second, Shane pulled back, Toby’s fist missing him be scant millimeters. Then the two boys slammed into each other and were soon on the ground wrestling.  
The other boys on the team rushed over to where the two adversaries were fighting. Some were trying to separate them, others were cheering them on and others looked on from the side too shocked to do anything. Finally the call went up that the coach was coming and all the boys worked to break up the fight. Toby and Shane were pulled apart and dragged into their own group of supporters. The coach approached the boys angrily.  
“You boys want to fight, turn in your gear first and get off my field.” He told them, calmer than his posture would have suggested. He looked around at the now quieted group of boys. He was going to get to the bottom of this fracas. He eyed the crowd looking for the most nervous boy. He knew he hit the mark when his eyes lighted on the second string quarterback.  
“Swartz.” He called out. The boy in question looked up fearfully. “How the hell did this start?” Cole Swartz looked around at his fellow teammates tensely. All eyes were on him. Though no one spoke, every one of their faces was telling him the same thing: say nothing. With the dedication that would make a mob boss proud, he answered, “I don’t know coach. I was on the bench when it started.”  
Coach sighed in disgust. It was going to be that way then. Well, if he couldn’t punish the culprit who started it then he would do the next best thing.  
“Since you boys have so much energy today, I guess that means I haven’t been doing my job as a coach.” He bellowed out to his team. “I’ll just have to work some of that energy off. Everybody’s doing wind sprints.” A groan went up among the boys and someone asked how many. “Until I say stop.” was the only answer they got.  
.  
.  
PART 6  
.  
Toby lied in his bed that night tossing and turning. He was certain it was because of the game the next night that had him battling with insomnia but an unordinary amount of his time was spent concentrating on Shane and the fight they had that afternoon. Toby remembered it with contempt. Toby blamed the entire episode on him. What did he expect? They would be playing for districts he had to be ready for anything. Glendale needed this win as well to get there and they wouldn’t be nearly as easy on him as Toby was. Shane was just pissed that he got tackled and wasn’t the big shot he thought he was. Maybe if he wasn’t playing Romeo all week, he’d be able to keep his mind on the game and play better. Maybe if she wasn’t around….  
Toby’s thoughts went involuntarily to Angie. Her image came unbidden to his mind: her soft hair, beautiful eyes, the sweet smile she gave him the first time they were introduced. He angrily tried to banish her from his head. What was the point dwelling on her? She was Shane’s girlfriend now. He had trained himself so hard this week not to think of her and he would not let himself get sucked backwards. Besides, he had more important things to think about, namely the game against Glendale. After a few more tosses and turns, he managed to still his mind enough to fall asleep.  
The next day at school was a tense one. The team was already stressed about the game that night but was also walking on pins and needles around Shane and Toby. The tension between the two boys was thick, so their teammates did their best to keep them out of each other’s way. The plan worked for the most part, the boys only ran into each other once going through the halls, but only stares were exchanged. Then there was the little snafu at the pep rally where Toby deliberately left Shane out of the roster call. But the slight went for the most part unnoticed and Principal Moss called Shane out to the floor with the excuse that Toby must have thought the cheerleaders recruited him for their squad. Shane ran out onto the floor amid cheers and laughter as he did a couple of cartwheels in front of the student body. Toby considered his antics juvenile and an attempt to show off.  
The game that night was intense with both teams battling for the coveted spot in districts. The home team took an early lead when Toby threw a thirty-eight yard touchdown in the first quarter. Glendale answered back, scoring with a fake to the tailback then running it into the end zone. The score went back and forth throughout the game, first with one team ahead then the other. At halftime the score was 19-13 in favor of Glendale. The beginning of the second half put Toby on the field. His plays were immaculate. He moved the ball further and further up the field. The defense only coming close to him once, but he remained unnerved and delivered a scoring pass to his tight end, sending them into the lead 20-19. The Glendale team came back with a three point field goal putting them in the lead at 22-20. Toby was back on the field but by this time Glendale was clued into his passing to the right and focused their attention to Mike Drewer, his other wide receiver. When Toby passed, they were there to get him. As soon as Mike’s hands caught the ball, the defensive end smashed into him sending the ball loose. There was a scramble to recover the fumbled football with Glendale coming up with it, ending the third quarter with an unfortunate turnover and Glendale in possession at the beginning of the fourth.  
There was a grim atmosphere when the defense took the field. The entire game hung on them stopping the opposing team in enough time to bring the offense out to score. The defensive line knew this, and bravely formed up in front of their opponents. They played fearlessly, making Glendale earn each yard, punishing their receivers on every pass. Eventually, Glendale had to abandon passing altogether and rely on their running game. The two teams fought it out on the field, neither side willing to give, with Glendale relentlessly pushing up the field one yard at a time. Defeat was nearly inevitable for Toby’s team. Glendale would keep pushing the ball until time ultimately ran out. They had to do something and do it fast.  
As they lined up on the field, the linebackers sided up to the right to run for a sack of Glendale’s quarterback, leaving the left side open. The offensive line adjusted and the quarterback opted for a pass play. When the ball was snapped, the defense pushed past the line of scrimmage towards the quarterback. Glendale’s quarterback scrambled and looking up the field found a wide receiver open. He launched the ball towards him and out of nowhere Chad Harter swooped in for an interception. The crowd was on their feet cheering as Chad barreled down the field. Glendale recovered and Chad was stopped at their forty six yard line with two and a half minutes left on the clock. The defense retired from the field in a gale of cheers and applause.  
Toby and his offense were sent onto the field with the directive to get the ball within field goal range. They needed to get to Glendale’s twenty yard line and the game was theirs. Toby lined up behind his center. When the ball was snapped back to him, he dropped back and fired it to Mike. The defense was expecting this and rushed him but was blocked, giving Mike a chance to break away and clamber up the field. He was tackled at Glendale’s thirty five yard line. Without a pause for breath they lined up, Toby ready to work the play again. This time, Glendale had a better time stopping him. Predicting his play, they doubled up their defense on Mike and managed to swat the ball out of the air before reaching the wide receiver, resulting in an incomplete pass, effectively stopping the clock a fifty seven seconds. The coach called Toby and his wide receivers over to the sideline. Toby, Shane and Mike jogged up to the coach, awaiting his instructions.  
“Toby, I want you to do a pump fake to Mike then throw to Shane.”  
Toby’s eyes darted to the boy across from him then back to his coach.  
“Coach, I really think I should do a hand off to the running back-”  
“Damn it Williams, this isn’t up for debate!” he snapped at Toby. “Just do as I say and pass it to Shane!”  
Toby closed his mouth and nodded to his coach. The three boys ran back onto the field and huddled everyone up to give them the play. Toby relayed his instructions to the rest of his teammates and broke up to get into position. The play clock ticked away. Toby was left running his options. He convinced himself that his reluctance to pass to Shane was because of his weak performance the day before and not due to him stealing a certain girl away from him. Toby shoved those thoughts from his mind. This was no time for distractions. Toby surveyed the field, called for the snap and the two lines collided.  
Toby stepped back and did a fake pass to Mike. The defensive backs anticipated this and moved to cover Mike, leaving a hole for Shane to break through and run down the field. Glendale’s cornerback spotted the feint and took off after Shane, but Shane had a good ten yard start on him. Toby watched as Shane ran past the thirty yard line, the cornerback rapidly closing in. If Shane caught this pass, they would be in perfect position for a field goal, maybe even scoring. Toby thought of his friend, possibly saving the game and taking them to districts. He imagined him being the hero of the game. Then he thought of Angie, the first day he saw her, running across the pitch during practice and then of her sitting next to Shane at the lunch table, blushing and smiling as he leaned in close to whisper something in her ear. These images passed through his mind’s eye in a millisecond before he threw the ball.  
The football sailed through the air aiming true to its intended target. Shane watched the ball’s approach over his shoulder as he flew past the twenty five yard line. It was coming in too high. He was going to have to jump for it. He did a few quick stutter steps and leapt into the air, twisting his body to receive the pass. His hands reached out to snatch the ball out of the air. As he was pulling the football in to secure it, the cornerback caught up with him and plowed into him full tilt. Shane took the full force of the hit and was smashed into the ground, losing possession of the ball. By then both teams were there, scrabbling for the ball. Players from both sides pounced on the ball and before long there was a pile up. The refs had to be called out onto the field to separate the teams and find out who had possession of the ball.  
Glendale did.  
The visitor’s side of the bleachers erupted in thunderous cheers. The game was over. With only eight seconds on the clock, Glendale’s quarterback took a knee and ran the last few seconds off the clock. Glendale won, 22-20.  
Toby and his team left the field silently in defeat after shaking the winning team’s hands. The mood in the locker room was silent and dejected as the boys changed from the game. Some of them sat solemnly, reflecting on the night. Others tried to go about there business as if it were just another game. But Toby did neither. He was crushed at their loss and felt helpless and angry. They were so close! This isn’t how this should have ended! If only the coach had let him run the play he wanted, they would be going to districts and not in here moping over their loss! But the coach wasn’t the only one to blame. There was another offender in this colossal screw up and Toby was just mad enough to let him know.  
Toby grabbed up his tee shirt and stalked through the locker room looking for the person responsible for their defeat. He found him in the last row of lockers. Shane was sitting down on the bench between the final rows of lockers, leaning to his left side, obviously in pain. Toby stormed up to him.  
“Well, I knew I shouldn’t have thrown to you.” He spit out venomously at the injured boy. “You couldn’t catch the Clap in a whorehouse.”  
Shane stood up and, despite his discomfort, squared off against Toby.  
“Me?” he asked incredulously. “What about that shit pass you threw! If you threw it any higher, the fucking birds would have had to catch it!”  
The shouting attracted the rest of the team and a crowd began to form. Toby and Shane ignored the onlookers as each tried to stare the other down.  
“You know what you are?” Toby hissed at Shane. “You’re one of those losers that can’t keep it up under pressure.”  
Shane grasped the duel meaning behind the insult.  
“Yeah well at least I have a girl to get it up for.” He sneered back. “The only way you can get it off is by playing football with a bunch of guys!”  
That was all it took. Toby lunged at him with murder in his eyes. Shane was ready for him. He caught Toby across the side of his head with an elbow. The blow sent sparks across his vision but only served to fuel his anger even more. Toby let fly with a roundhouse punch that caught Shane in the jaw. Shane staggered back a little, but was back in the fray again but by this time the rest of the team was there holding them back from killing each other, scuffling to keep them apart. The uproar drew the attention of the team’s coach and he was quickly on the scene.  
“WILLIAMS! MCCALASTER!” he bellowed at the two boys.  
Shane and Toby both ceased their struggling but continued to glared at each other. Toby had somehow maintained hold of his tee shirt during the brawl. The coach positioned himself between the two angry boys.  
“I want to know, and I want to know right now, what the hell is going on.”  
He directed his stare at Shane first. The boy lowered his gaze and turned his face downward but said nothing. Then he turned his attention to Toby and was met with defiance in his eyes.  
“Willaims, did you start this?”  
Toby shot a glance over at Shane who raised his eyes angrily, daring him. Toby felt a fire in the pit of his belly. He wouldn’t give Shane the satisfaction of backing down. With a snide look on his face he looked back and addressed his coach.  
“Yeah, I called this limp dick out on his shoddy playing.” Toby admitted. He evilly delighted in his pronouncement. The rest of the team watched with horror as he went on. “It’s his fault we lost the game!” he shouted as he pitched his tee shirt on the floor by the coach’s feet. Feeling emboldened by his outburst, Toby kicked it up another notch. “Of course, if I got to run the play I wanted to, we wouldn’t have lost the game to begin with.”  
There was an audible gasp from the football team. Nobody could believe what he just said! Some of the guys stood there with their mouths literally hung open. They all held their breath waiting to see what the coach would do.  
The coach on the other hand, stood there through Toby’s tirade with an oddly peaceful look on his face. When Toby had finished, he took a step closer to the boy until they were practically nose to nose. Toby didn’t retreat and they stood there like that for a few seconds while the coach eyed him up. Finally, he said in a calm voice:  
“Williams, that was the last game of your high school career. I hope you enjoyed it. Now pick up your shirt and quit stinking up my locker room.”  
Toby looked around at the other boys in the locker room. It was a sea of deadpan faces, all except for Shane. He could see the hate shining brightly from his face. Without another word, Toby picked up his tee shirt from the floor and left the locker room in disgrace.  
.  
.  
PART 7  
.  
The ride home was an uncomfortable one. There wasn’t a peep in the car from either of his parents or Toby. His parents could tell from his approach to the car that something was seriously wrong with Toby. But they figured his sullen mood was just the disappointment of losing the game. And Toby wasn’t going to correct their thinking one way or another.  
When they got home, he stormed off to his bedroom as soon as the front door was unlocked. His mother called up after him in an attempt to calm him down but he ignored her and slammed the door to his room for her efforts. Thinking it was best to give him his space, they left him alone in his room to stew.  
Toby angrily paced his room, only pausing to throw a book or his pillow at the wall. He was furious. Furious at his coach, furious about losing the game but most of all he was furious at Shane. He grabbed up his bedding and slung it at the door. If he didn’t screw up that catch, he would be celebrating right now instead of tearing his room apart. It was all his fault. He knew he shouldn’t have thrown it to him! He thought back at the pass and how Shane got the crap knocked out of him by the other team’s cornerback. He smiled deviously. At least that brought him down a peg or two. His bad attitude at practice and his showing off at the pep rally, Toby was glad Shane got some of the wind knocked out of his sails. That would teach him for walking around school like he owned the place. He was a royal jerk all week long. Ever since he started dating Angie, he was acting like he was king or something.  
When he thought of Angie, he couldn’t stop the onslaught of emotions that pummeled him anew. Betrayal, rejection, jealousy; all bubbled to the surface of his wounded psyche. Why did she have to start dating him? What did he have that Toby didn’t? Surely Toby was the better catch and all the other girls would give their right hand to go out with him. What made her any different? It was only for a lucky chance that Toby was suspended from school last week that gave Shane the opportunity to sneak in and steal his girl. And that’s what he did, Toby was positive of it. Shane knew Toby had designs on Angie but he waited until his first chance to stab him in the back and steal his girl. He thought of the two of them together at lunch, with Shane flaunting his treachery right in front of his face, made a rage well up inside him. Why should he have her? He didn’t deserve her. She should have been his, she could have been his, if Shane hadn’t stepped in and stole her away.  
All these thoughts kept running through his mind as he paced around his room like a caged animal. The more he thought about it the more he knew he had to do something. He couldn’t let this injustice stand the way it was. He couldn’t tolerate it, he wouldn’t tolerate it.  
Suddenly, he stopped his pacing and stood very still. A dark thought raced across his fevered mind. He knew what he would do. He knew how he would fix this travesty. He knew just how to set things right again. He knew the risk of what he was about to do but to his young mind the rewards far outweighed the consequences. Besides, what other choices did he have?  
Toby moved to the center of his room, his plan formed and decided upon. He pulled himself up to his full height and mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Finally, he spoke seven words in a clear and concise voice:  
“Goblin King, please grant me my wish.”


	6. Chapter 6

PART 1

The answer to his words was instantaneous. An unexplainable wind blew through his room, though the window was tightly closed. It whooshed around him three times, like a cyclone, until Toby could take it no more and stepped out of its reach. The tempest spun round in the middle of the room, now heavy with sparkling light. The eye of the storm darkened and gradually the wind and light died down leaving a swirl of dark matter that took the form of a cloak. The cloak unfolded, revealing the man at its center, Jareth, king of the goblins.  
Toby watched in awe at his arrival. Even the cynical teenager had to admit the man knew how to make an entrance. His appearance still astounded him; his striking blonde mane, his aristocratic face with those mismatched eyes that held a type of wild ferocity in them, his sleek body which was draped in black from head to foot. Everything about this ethereal being radiated strength and domination. His presence commanded the room and though Toby was now the same height and a bit more muscular he still felt intimidated by the Goblin King. ‘Careful,’ a little voice in his head warned ‘you can’t trust this guy. Remember what he did to Heather.’  
Sudden awareness swept over him as he remembered his wish three years ago. He had wanted to save his parents’ marriage and in doing so the Goblin King murdered one of his dad’s co-workers. This was a very dangerous man, capable of deadly violence. He was beginning to worry that maybe he had made a mistake calling him for help. But the greedy entity inside Toby whispered seductively ‘What’s the harm it can do? Now I know what he’s capable of, so I can take precautions against it. I’ll just have to be more specific, work in boundaries. I can control this.’  
And there they stood, sizing each other up in silence for a few seconds. Toby’s face was one of apprehension while Jareth’s face held an amused, haughty smile. Finally it was the Goblin Kind that broke the silence.  
“Ah, Master Toby, our paths cross once again!” he proclaimed, voice rich with mirth and joviality. He whirled his cloak behind him and took a step closer to Toby. “I trust I find you and your family well?”  
Toby said nothing but continued to stare at the man in black. Jareth quizzically raised an eyebrow and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. When no response was forthright in coming he turned to examine the room. He took note of the disarray it was in.  
“In the middle of redecorating?” he asked and gave him a disingenuous look.  
The Goblin King’s sarcasm snapped Toby out of his trance. So he wanted to play. Fine with him.  
“Well, you know, it’s so hard to find a good interior designer.” Toby remarked wryly.  
“Indeed, isn’t it?” the otherworldly king responded lightly. He languidly strolled around the room. He levitated a book that was thrown haphazardly against the wall to his hand. He turned it over to inspect the title. Uninterested, he tossed the book back where he found it. “You have no idea how difficult it is to find good help these days. Try being continually surrounded by goblins if you are inclined to experience true pandemonium. I myself am plagued with-”  
“I know what you did.” Toby stated abruptly. He hadn’t meant to blurt that but he had to get it out. He wanted to confront the king of the goblins about his past deed.  
Jareth turned his head towards the boy. There was a secret looked concealed behind his friendly demeanor. He gave Toby a mysterious grin.  
“Do you now? And what precisely did I do?”  
Toby was in no mood for his antics. Was he really feigning ignorance about what he did to Heather? Was he really going to make him say it?  
Toby tried to muster up some decisiveness behind his words. “You know what I’m talking about. Heather Blair?” he prompted.  
The Goblin King merely stared at him tolerantly, as if indulging a spoiled child.   
“Yes, the interloper. What of her?”  
The boy gaped at him in disbelief. Toby had just mentioned the name of a woman he murdered and he didn’t even flinch!   
“What do you mean ‘what of her’? You killed her!” he shrieked at him.  
Jareth’s eyes flashed with warning before calming again. He sighed.  
“I was merely removing an obstacle to your wish.” He explained patiently, as if speaking to a child. “Surely you can see the temptation she presented?”  
Toby remembered the night he and Sarah spied on his dad and Heather out in the parking lot, he could recall the hesitation and regret in his father’s voice when he turned down her offer. She would have been a big problem, Toby realized this, but to resort to killing her….  
“Well you still shouldn’t have done it.” he protested, a little more weakly than before. “You could have scared her or made her disappear or something. You didn’t have to kill her!”

“Yes, yes, we’ve established all that,” Jareth said shortly, “but we can hardly undo it now.” He added and waved his hand dismissively. The goblin king turned back around to the boy who called upon him, his cape making a swishing sound as it brushed against the floor. His manner was impatient. “Is this why you’ve solicited an audience? To reproach me about past wishes?”   
Toby became timid. He did want something from Jareth and he didn’t think that irritating him was the best way of getting it. He repentantly shook his head.  
“Very well then.” Jareth said, placated. “Then I presume you have a favor you would like to ask me to bestow upon you?”  
Toby nodded his head again. The Goblin King’s eyes glinted with veiled fervor. ‘Watch out,’ his little voice counseled again ‘you can’t leave any openings for him to twist your wish however he likes’.  
“I need your help with this girl at school,” he started carefully, wary about even giving her name. “She’s dating my one friend. I want them broken up.” The Goblin King arched his eyebrows in curiosity over the phrase. Toby quickly amended his statement.   
“Not that I want them to be actually, physically broken.” he corrected, “In fact, I don’t want any harm to come to either of them, or anybody for that matter.” Jareth just smiled toothily at him. “I just don’t want them to be dating anymore.”  
Jareth tapped his finger to his lips. “So you would like for me to divide the young lovers from one another.” He surmised. Toby choked on the use of the word ‘lovers’ to describe Angie and Shane.  
“Yes.” he said in a dead tone.  
Jareth gave him a calculating look. He took a few steps away from the teenager with his hands clasped behind his back in consideration.  
“Such a cruel circumstance to be wishing upon one’s friend.” he chided Toby. “Which leads me to wonder: why you would want to visit this cruelty upon your friend?”  
Toby fidgeted under the question, wringing his hands like he used to when he was younger. ‘Don’t let him see you squirm!’ he cautioned himself. Toby forced his hands down to his sides. “It’s not because of him.” he finally admitted reluctantly.  
“Ah, then it’s the girl you wish to punish!” the Goblin King concluded.   
“No!” Toby corrected hastily. “I don’t want anyone punished!”  
Jareth scowled. “Then I fail to see the reasoning behind my being here.” he snapped at the boy.  
Toby drew in a deep breath in preparation to explain. He had hoped to avoid having to delve into his motive.  
“I want them to be split up because I want her to be with me.” Toby blushed, but continued uncomfortably, “I want her to be my girlfriend.”  
He expected the Goblin King to laugh or mock him. Jareth did neither. He just stood there, not saying a word, and measured Toby’s words pensively. He took a few steps closer to the boy. A lewd grin appeared on his face. When he spoke again, Toby thought he could hear the impropriety in his voice.  
“You desire this young female for yourself.” He summed up.  
It sounded lurid and selfish the way he stated it and it made Toby defensive.  
“Because I love her.” he insisted, defending his motivation.  
The Goblin King snickered.  
“Your kind.” He turned and sauntered away from Toby lazily. “The pitiful infatuations you feel between each other are poor imitations of love. I believe humans incapable of understanding what real love is. They mistake the stirrings they feel in their nether regions to be testaments of adoration when, in reality, all it is, is the relentless drive to procreate. A rather primitive urge, but useful I suppose, in your success as a species.”  
Toby wasn’t exactly sure of what everything Jareth had said meant, but one thing he was sure of was he was being talked down to. His cheeks flushed again, but from anger, not embarrassment. This time when he opened his mouth, it was out of belligerence.  
“I suppose it might seem like that to some people. Bitter people, who probably never had a date and wasted their weekends sitting by the ph-”  
Toby never got a chance to finish his sentence. Before he could even blink, the Goblin King was upon him, lifting him in the air by the neck. Toby reached up, trying to pry the iron hand from his throat. He looked down into the Goblin King’s face and what he saw was enough to freeze the blood in his veins. The look on his face was twisted and fearsome, inhuman in its intensity. Jareth bared his teeth at him like a wild beast.  
“Don’t mock me boy.” He snarled dangerously. “I have known the kisses of queens and have found their taste lacking. I have felt the passion of goddesses, but still my thirst could not be quenched. In my heart, there beats a love stronger and more devoted than your puny race could scarcely comprehend. So don’t speak to me of love as if you have any knowledge of it!”  
With the last of his words, he released him and Toby crumbled to the floor. He lay there where he fell, gasping loudly for air. Toby’s heart beat painfully in his chest and his lungs burned from the oxygen rushing in. His vision clearing, he could see the Goblin King with his back towards him, starting to glow, preparing for his departure.   
“Wait.” He croaked out desperately. Jareth turned his head and looked at him over his shoulder. Toby slowly staggered to his feet, dazed and dizzy. He took a moment to drag in a ragged breath. “I still need your help.”  
Jareth sneered at to the boy. “Why should I help you?”  
“Because I’ll give you anything you want.”  
The words were out of Toby’s mouth before he even had a chance to think them through. He shuddered involuntarily. What had he just done? This being could ask for anything under the stars and he obligated himself to giving it to him. But in his heart he knew he spoke the truth. There was nothing he wouldn’t give to be with Angie. He was certain of it.  
The Goblin King stopped his preparations. He stood deathly still with his back still facing Toby. His face remained turned to the side but his eyes had a far away look to them, as if he were gazing a mile away. An eerily blissfulness passed over his face.   
“Anything I want?” he inquired vaguely.  
Toby bobbed his head up and down. “As long as it doesn’t end up hurting someone.” he stipulated.  
Jareth just continued to stare off distantly. “No, not hurt, never hurt.” he murmured thoughtfully. He stood like that for a second or two more then he snapped out of his dreamlike stance and spun back around to face Toby, his cloak ebbing away from him like dark water. He fixed Toby with a weighty glare.  
“Take heed in what you say.” He warned soberly. “I will grant you your wish but magic like this comes at a heavy cost. You may come to find the price too steep.”  
“I don’t care. Name it and it’s yours.” Toby promised blindly. He would give all he owned for her, even his most prized possession, his Nova.   
Jareth’s teeth flashed an exultant grin. A look of absolute triumph spread across his face and his eyes gleamed with an inner fire. Toby took an involuntary step back. The expression on the Goblin King’s face frightened him. A tiny primitive part of him could feel the danger in the air much the way his ancient ancestors could sense when a predator was near. That tiny part of him screamed for him to flee, leave this room and don’t look back, before it was too late. It was a powerful urge but even stronger was his desire to have that wish, at whatever cost. It was that stubborn, insuppressible, desire that kept him there to face whatever the king of the goblins was about to do.  
The Goblin King brought his hands together in front of his face as if he were praying, his potent stare never leaving Toby’s. He twisted his palms together and pulled them apart, exposing the crystal that had materialized. But this crystal was different from the others. It didn’t glow like the other two had; instead it was black like obsidian. The murkiness in the middle began to shift and Toby could make out what was at its center. It was him and Angie and they were in a lover’s embrace. Toby peered closer, wanting to see more. He could see the look in the crystal Angie’s eyes. It was one of love and adulation. His heart beat harder as the two came together in a passionate kiss. It was everything he wanted and it was within his reach.  
The Goblin King watched the teenager’s reaction with a cunning smile on his lips. Toby was mesmerized by the orb and its contents.   
“This is what you want, isn’t it?” Jareth coaxed. Toby could hardly bare to pry his eyes away from the scene in the crystal.  
“Yes.” he said longingly.  
“Then it is yours.” the Goblin King guaranteed. “All you have to do is say the right words.”  
Toby was already reaching for the crystal when his little voice stopped him. Remembering the consequences of his last wish, he wanted to make sure nothing like that would ever happen again.  
“If I make this wish,” he said, withdrawing his hand, “will you promise me that you won’t go out and hurt anyone else?”  
Jareth grinned wickedly. “Well I can hardly promise you that.” He said mischievously. Toby opened his mouth to protest. “But,” he continued “I will not harm anyone due to your wish.”  
Toby mulled over his answer. “Do you promise?” he persisted.  
The Goblin King looked him directly in the eyes. “You have my word.” he said solemnly.  
Toby parted his lips, ready to make his wish.  
“But,” the Goblin King interrupted before Toby could say the words. “A deal like this must be sealed with a hand shake.”  
Toby looked at him bizarrely. A hand shake? They had never shook hands on a wish before. But this time he was demanding one. The teenager looked across at the king of the goblins with suspicion. His face was carefully masked, giving away no ulterior motive. The orb floated just above the palm of his left hand and his right hand was extended out towards Toby. ‘Maybe he wants to shake on it because he promised not to hurt anybody’ he reasoned to himself. Ever so cautiously, he slowly reached out his hand.  
Jareth’s reaction was swift and frightening. His hand struck out like a snake, quickly engulfing Toby’s hand within his own. The grip was tight, almost painfully tight, but even more uncomfortable was the jolt of electricity that emanated from his palm. Then just as quickly as it started, it was over.  
Toby reclaimed his shocked hand with a jump backwards and a yelp. He soothed his pained hand with his other one and looked down it to inspect the damage. There was an angry red mark in the middle of his palm that seemed to glow momentarily but then vanished without leaving a burn or a scar behind. Toby looked over at the Goblin King.  
“What the heck was that?” he squealed. Jareth said nothing at first, just gave him a toothy smile.  
“You just made a bargain with the siabhra.” Jareth explained as if it were the commonest thing in the world. His face was filled with devilish glee. “Now it’s time to claim your prize.”   
Toby knew something more had just happened than making a deal with a… sheera? or however he put it. But what’s done is done and he still had a wish to make.  
Toby licked his lips nervously and swallowed hard.   
“I wish Angie Bernard would fall in love with me.”  
The words being said, the crystal left the Goblin King’s hand and hovered to Toby’s. Instead of floating gracefully through the air like the other two had, it dipped and rolled as if struggling to stay air born. When it alighted in his hand, there were no swirling colors like the last ones, no glowing light. Instead it sat rather heavily in his palm, the inky blackness churning inside. Then the crystal melted in his hand, its contents dripping though his fingers. Toby felt revolted, worrying about what kind of residue it might leave on the floor. But like as the others did in the past, the murky substance dissipated before making contact.   
Toby was still kind of distracted by the melting crystal when he finally noticed Jareth leering at him. ‘What is he grinning about?’ he thought. Then it came to him, he’s expecting payment. A spark of fear flared up within him as he dreaded what the king of the goblins might ask for in return. Drawing himself up, Toby faced the Goblin King, prepared for whatever price he might demand from him.  
“Well, Goblin King,” he said in a very business like voice, trying to cover the fear and distrust he felt, “a deal is a deal. What is it you want in return?”   
Jareth chuckled lightly at his announcement. His amusement creased the corners of his eyes and put an easy smile on his face. He treaded closer to the unnerved male, which Toby countered with a step or two backwards, carefully keeping at arm’s distance away. The Goblin King could sense the teenager’s trepidation.  
“Oh come now, why the concern?” his tone was relaxed. “Surely you can’t be regretting your wish already?”  
“No.” Toby said doggedly. “It’s just I haven’t paid for it yet is all.”  
“Patience my dear Toby.” Jareth lightly scolded him. “Your wish will not go unpaid. Though the time in which I collect will be at my leisure. Besides, it is my pleasure that you enjoy your wish for a time before I collect my payment.”   
“How long will that be?” he asked, trying to nail down a timeframe.  
“You will know when it is time to compensate me.” he said glibly, effortlessly dodging his question. “Until then, enjoy your wish Master Tobias. May it be everything you hope it to be.”  
The Goblin King’s voice was growing faint and he was beginning to glow again. His body was becoming translucent as he was fading from sight. Toby knew his departure was close at hand and was relieved but he was leaving many questions he had unanswered. Quickly, he cried out one last query.  
“What is it you want?”   
The Goblin King merely answered him with a smile as he disappeared completely, leaving only a glimmer in the air as evidence of his presence. Soon, it too faded, leaving an alarmed Toby behind to ponder his decision.  
.  
And Toby’s wish was everything he had hoped it would be, and more.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
The next day was Saturday, the day of the homecoming dance. He moped around all day, sullen and quiet. His parents tried to avoid him, figuring he was still in a mood about losing the game. Toby spent the evening at home, due to his grounding, brooding over the wish he had just made the night before. How soon would it take effect? Would it be like his mom and dad were the next day or would it take longer? He hoped it would take effect soon, preferably before the dance. It irked him to no end that Shane would be taking her to homecoming. The thought of the two of them dancing close together, of her resting her head on his shoulder as they swayed gently to the music, made his fists clench in rage. He tried to take his mind off of it by working on his report on Mark Twain for AL class (homework was the only pastime his mother allowed him since he was grounded from everything fun) but it proved only a poor distraction at best. Even the threat of Mrs. Bach’s ominous red marker couldn’t keep Toby’s mind from escaping to the homecoming dance and the scenes he was playing though his head.  
Eventually the night did end, with Toby slumped over his desk asleep, and Sunday dawned bright and sunny. He woke up with a stiff neck from sleeping propped up at his desk and rubbed it as he stood up. His report lay on the desk, crumpled from where he had been resting his head on it. Toby didn’t care. Right then the only thing that was on his mind was the smell of pancakes wafting upstairs from the kitchen.  
As he sprinted down the stairs, eager for his morning meal, the telephone began to ring. His mother answered the phone as he strolled by and plunked himself down in his seat, reaching for the stack of hotcakes in the center of the table.   
“Hello?” Karen Williams answered the phone. A brief silence as she listened to the response on the other end of the line. “No I’m afraid he cannot come to the phone right now, would you care to leave a message?” His mother listened a little longer then ended the conversation with a short goodbye.  
“Who was that on the phone?” his father asked from behind an uplifted section of the newspaper.  
His mother continued adding more breakfast foods to the table; a pitcher of milk, a plate of bacon, some butter and syrup. “I don’t know.” She said as she busied herself at the stove. “They didn’t leave a name but it was some girl for Toby.”   
Toby stopped what he was eating in mid bite. A swell or excitement rose up in him. Could it be her? Did his wish kick in already? He finished his mouthful before asking what she wanted.  
“I don’t know honey, she didn’t leave a message.” she told him as she sat down at the table with a cup of coffee. “She just said she’d speak with you tomorrow at school.” Karen could see how this news lightened her son’s mood and smiled at him over the rim of her coffee mug, a little twinkle in her eye. Roger Williams put the newspaper down so he could have his part in the conversation as well.  
“A girl? Why would a young lady be calling for you?” he asked his son innocently. A little too innocently.   
Toby could tell that his dad was picking so, as casually as he could, he replied: “How should I know? She didn’t leave a message.” and went back to eating his pancakes. His mom and dad cast evocative glances across the table but said no more. Toby munched on his breakfast as indifferently as he could but inside himself he was doing leaps and bounds of joy. It had to be Angie, he could feel it in his bones! He wondered what she had wanted but in reality it didn’t matter all as much as the fact that she had called him. This was confirmation that his wish had worked. School couldn’t come soon enough for the excited teen.  
Monday morning dawned and the starting of his third week of being grounded. But Toby didn’t seem to mind as he blew through his tedious chores of cleaning up the breakfast dishes and taking out the trash. He was going to see Angie for the first time after making his wish. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face from thinking about it. Finally after all these months of yearning and waiting, he was going to be with Angie. The thought of it had him walking on air.  
On the bus ride to school that morning, all he could do was guess what she had called about. Was it to tell him that she couldn’t bear to live without him? Toby snickered at himself a little at the thought. It was a bit of a dramatic image but it was his daydream, he could imagine whatever he liked! And what he liked to imagine at that moment was the way Angie would shyly look at him as she professed her faithful love to him, with cheeks flushed and tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. He ran other pleasant (but equally unfeasible) scenarios through his head and smiled absentmindedly during the whole bus ride.  
When he arrived at school, he sought out his clique of friends. They were standing where they usually did in the courtyard and Shane was among them. Upon his approach, Shane got a disgusted look on his face when he spotted Toby. He then said something to the boys standing closest, which his companions turned to look in the direction indicated. Shane gave Toby a hard look before he turned and stalked away followed by Nate and Cole.   
He ignored them and proceeded socializing with his friends. The other football players stood around, discussing their weekends but Toby could sense the aloofness some of the boys had towards him. They were still obviously put off by the tantrum he threw in the locker room Friday night. He was sure that by now rumors of the fight and his back talking the coach had made laps around the school. Toby was pissed by how some of them were acting but said nothing. Best to let the whole thing blow over. He would have to take some serious ragging and a few cold shoulders before things got back to normal. But this didn’t worry Toby. Let them get it out of their systems. Besides, there were other things he had to concentrate on, the most important just stepping off of her bus.   
Toby watched Angie intently as she walked towards the entrance. ‘Look at me,’ he thought intensely, ‘look at me now.’ As if hearing his thoughts, she turned her head in his direction and they briefly held each other’s gaze before she passed through the doors. Toby felt a rush of adrenaline and he quickly separated himself from his friends to follow the girl into school. As he entered, he quickly scanned the hallways to see where she had gone. He found her hanging out at Maggie’s locker. With a determined look upon his face, he strode down the hallway towards her.   
Angie was facing in the direction that he was coming from and watched his approach with carefully cloaked emotion. Toby’s eyes didn’t deviate from hers as he closed in the distance between them. But right before he got close enough to say something to her, she broke eye contact and mouthed something to Maggie. The other girl turned and saw him heading their way. She instantly called out to him, waving him to her locker. While the junior’s back was turned, Angie took advantage of the momentary distraction to slip away into the crowd. He would have followed her had Maggie not intercepted him.  
“Hey Toby, you’re just the guy I wanted to talk to.” she announced.  
Toby cursed Maggie and whatever ridiculousness she wanted to tell him. He kept peering over her head, scanning the crowd for Angie.   
“Yeah, what about?” he asked, still looking past her.  
“Well, I heard a little rumor about you.” she drawled out impishly. “Something about taking a swing at your coach?”  
That caught Toby’s attention. Though it should never cease to amaze him the way the rumor mill could churn out outlandish exaggerations, he was shocked to hear that one. He looked at the girl, stunned.  
“Where’d you hear that?” he demanded.  
“Courtney Mayers told me that she heard it from Chad Harter.” she confessed. She got a wide eyed, eager look on her face. “Is it true?”  
“NO!” he denied. “Me and Shane got into a fight in the locker room and he split us up.”  
“I told her it wasn’t true!” she rallied. “I knew she got it all wrong. But she swore up and down you did. That’s what I wanted to tell you yesterday when I called but your mom said-”  
“W-wait, what was that?” he interrupted, attention completely focused on her. “That was you who called yesterday?”  
“Yeah.” she confirmed. “I wanted to let you know what people were saying. Not that I believed any of it though! I know you better than to think you would go off and punch your coach….”  
Toby let her blather on without listening. He felt a crushing disappointment that it was Maggie who called him, not Angie. He had felt so sure it was her! Now he found out it was just Magpie Gillepsie. Doubt began to creep into his mind. What if it didn’t work? What if somehow his wish was a dud? Would he have to call on the Goblin King yet again?   
“….and I tried to find out from Angie what Shane had to say about it but since they broke up…”  
That brought Toby back down to earth.   
“Whoa. What was that you said?”   
The girl looked at him blankly.   
“You mean the part about where Mike Drewer said you tried to bite Shane’s ear off in practice?”  
Toby rolled his eyes with exasperation.   
“No,” he ground out as patiently as he could. “after that.”  
“You mean about Angie and Shane breaking up?” she asked. Toby gave a forced grin and nodded his head. “Oh yeah, they broke up like right after the dance. You could kinda tell something was wrong the whole night. They seemed kinda… distant, ya know? Well I guess you wouldn’t know since you weren’t there. How long are you going to be grounded anyway? Does that also include after school committees because if not you could definitely-”  
“Maggie!” he snapped to get her back on track.  
The talkative junior jerked at his unexpected sharpness. She was a little flustered but managed to come back to the case at hand.  
“Yeah, well um, Gwinny said she saw the two of them talking on the bleachers and they looked really serious. The next day they were broke up. Not really sure why though but talk is that it was Angie who broke up with him.”  
Toby could scarcely believe his own ears. Shane and Angie were done. Even if he wasn’t dating her, neither was anyone else! This was such blessed news he couldn’t contain himself. He reached down and pulled the girl into his arms and swung her around in a circle in exuberance. When he put her down, the girl was speechless (for once) and eyeing him as if he might instantaneously combust. Toby let out an uncontrolled laugh and practically skipped off to his homeroom.   
Though he was more optimistic about his wish after talking to Maggie, it seemed fortune was not in his corner when it came to speaking with Angie alone. At every turn he was thwarted. She was flanked at all sides during lunch, though Toby would have been hesitant to speak to her there anyway. She was nigh unapproachable in the hallway and the only class they did share together, American Lit, the ever watchful Mrs. Bach was eager to bounce him on any offense she could catch him on. So Toby went throughout the day beset with near misses and almost encounters.  
Even with his positive outlook about his wish taking effect, Toby was a little off put by the fact that Angie wasn’t rushing up to him with any sort of declarations of her own. She remained as remote to him as she had the week up to him making his wish. It caused Toby to wonder if maybe the two of them breaking up was merely a fluke. Maybe she still held a grudge against him for socking Todd? He hoped not but couldn’t be certain. She was extremely mad at him for his poor behavior. Perhaps he would have to lay that sorry situation to rest before being able to pursue her further. He would address this issue the following day.   
The next day at school however, he seemed doomed to have a repeat of the day before. Unable to catch her before the homeroom bell, he was determined to make contact in AL class. They were back in the classroom going over the fundamental styles of writing when he decided to press his luck. He was going to pass her a note, fully aware if Mrs. Bach caught him, it would be a one way trip to the office. But for him, it was worth the risk. His opportunity came when the teacher was writing on the chalkboard some long winded explanation about balanced sentence structures. He quickly ripped off a piece of paper from his notebook and hastily jotted down one sentence: Are you still mad at me? and flicked it over her shoulder onto her opened book. Angie started at the appearance of the paper missile but quickly concealed it from view. She carefully opened it and read the contents. With a slight turn of her head, she peeked over her shoulder at Toby and scribbled something down then cautiously handed it back to him. He swiftly snatched up the note but by this time, Mrs. Bach had turned back to the class to ask another question. Her eyes honed in on Toby, suspicion hanging in the air. Toby froze. That woman could sniff out a note like a blood hound and Toby was her favorite ‘usual suspect’. He sat with his eyes trained on his book, pretending to be following along, praying that his ruse would fool her. She stared at him a moment or two longer before turning back to the board. Toby could have collapsed from relief. Instead he speedily opened the note he had risked so much for. There was one word written underneath his sentence: No. Class progressed without anymore note passing (the close call with the first one, put Toby on the straight and narrow) and when the bell rang, he caught up to Angie in the hall and followed her to her locker.   
“So…. you’re not mad at me any more?” he asked leaning up against the neighboring locker.   
She kept stirring through her books but a little smile formed on her lips.  
“No.” she said simply.  
Toby was happy but was hoping for more of an elaboration.   
“That’s cool.” he said with a shrug. “I kind of missed hanging out with you.”   
Angie turned towards him. “I kind of missed hanging out with you too.” she said.  
Then she did something that set the alarms off in Toby’s head. She brushed some stray hair back behind her ear.   
It was a signal Toby had seen hundreds of times before. He zeroed in on her body language. The flushed cheeks, darting eyes, the way she fidgeted. She was interested. Toby could feel a self assured smirk coming on but clipped it before it could spread across his face. Finally after all these months, he had Angie right where he wanted her. With this new evidence he could feel all his anxieties fade away. This was his game now and he knew exactly how to play it.   
“Well, I better be getting off to Geometry.” He said indifferently, giving her his most winning smile. “I’ll catch you later.”   
He turned from her and headed for his next class, smiling as he did. Now that he was certain Angie was interested, he wasn’t going to spoil it by rushing. After all, the chase was half the fun. He looked forward to flirting and charming her. But more than just the thrill of the chase, he wanted to feel like he earned her. He would be attentive but nonchalant about it, draw her into the pursuit. And then, when the moment was just right, he would ask her to go out with him. It was a perfect plan.   
For the rest of the week, he played it cool with her. Now when she got off the bus, she would look for him in the courtyard. Though still not one to approach him around his friends, she would watch him as she entered the building and would be waiting for him at her locker when he came in. He chatted her up in the mornings, conveniently while her friends were around, preventing any kind of intimacy from developing. This was fine with Toby, since he had a plan in place. She would pay close attention to him when he talked and smiled at him frequently. He even once thought he saw a little green eyed monster in her when Maggie was a tad too friendly with him in the hallway when she tugged on him in a playful manner. Angie said nothing but Toby could see her temper simmering in her blue eyes. Toby drank it all up, rejoicing in her attentiveness.  
During lunch, he made the conscious decision not to eat with her at her table, even though suggestions were made that he should. He lightheartedly declined saying too much girl talk caused indigestion. She accepted his refusal but on a few occasions during lunch when Toby would look over he would catch her staring. On these instances, he would send her a broad smile and tilt his head up in acknowledgement. Once he even gave her a bawdy wink, which left her red cheeked and her face turned downward.   
But by far his greatest tactic of the week was when they were in American Lit. The class was reading aloud from ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and Toby was doing much of what he usually did in that class, staring at the back of Angie’s head as she sat prettily in front of him. He noticed amidst her soft locks a bit of fuzz that had no business being there. Ordinarily he would have just continued to stare at it but this week he did something he wouldn’t have dreamt of doing before. Toby reached out and plucked the intruding piece of lint out of her hair. His hand gently pulled it out of her silky tresses, reveling in their feel. Angie sat up stiffly as if someone poured cold water down her back. She swung around in her seat and gave him an astonished look, not knowing what just happened. Toby gave her an innocent smile and held out his hand that contained the speck of lint in it.  
“You had a fuzzy in your hair.” he whispered harmlessly. She just stared at him wordlessly until Mrs. Bach called on her to read the next paragraph. She was so disorientated that she lost her place in the book and was severely criticized by the ‘Book Nazi’ (Toby’s less graphic name for the cranky teacher) for not paying attention. Angie bore her reprimand without complaint and proceeded to read the section designated to her.   
“I’m sorry for getting you in trouble in class.” he apologized as he walked her to her locker. Her cheeks got blotchy red at the memory.  
“That’s okay. You were only looking out for my grooming.” She joked.  
Toby cut a smile. “But you might have missed a sentence of her precious book!” he gasped.  
Angie giggled. “Oooh, that would be a crime! I might not get an A on next Monday’s test!”  
He laughed. “Crabby old coot.”  
Shockingly enough, Angie went to bat for the tyrant that had just chewed her out in front of the whole class.  
“She’s really not that bad.” She admitted. “After all she’s going to give me extra credit for tutoring after school.”  
“What do you need extra credit for?” he teased her. “You’ve got to have the highest grade in the class.”  
Angie blushed at his compliment and shyly looked away. Her coyness was endearing to him. Without thinking, he reached out and picked up a strand of her hair and ran it through his fingers. She looked back at him, her blue eyes shining with trust. Toby felt a powerful stirring within him as he stared back at her. But before the moment could play out any further, the bell rang signaling they were now late for class.   
“Shit!” Toby exclaimed. “We’re late for class!”   
Angie was starting to show a little panic as well. “I better hurry up before I get in trouble.” She spun around to hurry down the hall but then paused and shot a glance over her shoulder. “See you around.” she said with a little smile. Then she was gone.  
Toby lingered in the hallway a little longer before turning and rushing to his own class.  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
The fourth, and last, week of his grounding began with a chipper Toby up early preparing for school. His life couldn’t be going better. It was his final week of being grounded, most of his friends had gotten over his belligerent performance after the last game and Angie Bernard was falling head over heels in love with him. The last part made him so cheery he could have almost sung. After their little exchange at her locker following American Lit the week before, Toby had little doubt that she more than ready to be his girlfriend. Even though he made that wish, it was still exciting to him, pursuing her and flirting with her. He just wanted to play it out a little bit longer to wait for the right moment to ask. At least until he was un-grounded and he could go out with her on a proper date. He could hardly wait until he got his keys back so he could.   
His morning went along his usual routine: hanging out with his friends in the courtyard (minus Shane and his supporters) until Angie’s bus pulled up. Then he would follow her into the school and hang out with her and her friends.   
“Hey I’ll catch you guys later.” he told his friends as he nodded in Angie’s direction to let her know he was heading in behind her.   
Some of the guys in the group grunted in amusement. Toby’s attentions towards Angie hadn’t gone unnoticed by his classmates. Even though he didn’t make it official, everyone knew he had designs on Angie Bernard. And like all high school boys, they showed their support by razzing the dickens out of him. He didn’t mind though. This was one area where he had an infinite supply of good humor towards.  
“What?” he asked with an unassuming look on his face. “I got things to do.”  
“Yeah. One of those things doesn’t happen to be wearing a blue jacket does it?” Chad snorted.  
Toby gave his friends a wolfish grin and headed for the door, the sound of them making cat calls and whipping noises followed him across the courtyard. He shook his head good naturedly. They could be such asses.  
When he entered the school, he headed directly for Angie’s locker. He was anticipating spending some time with his girl but the sight that greeted him dashed all those expectations. He stopped dead in his tracks. Angie was at her locker all right but she wasn’t alone.   
Shane was there.  
Toby felt a raging monster wake up inside him.  
Shane was standing at her locker with his arm hanging from the locker door speaking diligently to her, a look of consternation on his face. Angie was brusquely putting her belongings away only pausing once or twice to give a short one word answer. The scene reached its crescendo when Angie slammed her locker shut angrily and said something to Shane that left him with an offended look on his face. She then pushed past him and hurried down the hallway without a glance backwards.  
Shane watched her as she walked away before he banged his hand against a locker. He left going in the opposite direction. He was walking straight towards Toby and he could see the frustration and disappointment written all over his face. Shane, distracted with his own thoughts, never took notice of him before he cut down a side hallway.   
Toby was at a crossroads of a dilemma. On the one hand, he wanted to go to Angie’s homeroom to see if she was alright and console her. On the other hand, he wanted to follow Shane and kick the living crap out of him. He chose the other hand.   
Toby set out down the hallway to find his former friend. He scanned the crowd and found Shane at the other end, accompanied by Cole, Nate and Sam. They were standing around outside his homeroom, talking amongst themselves. Toby strode down the hallway purposefully. The small part of his mind that was still working rationally convinced the rest of him that he wasn’t going to cause a big scene. He wasn’t going to let things escalate into a fight (that’s just what he needed, to get into a brawl on his last week of incarceration) he was just going to firmly warn Shane to leave Angie alone. This seemed like a plausible strategy, after all much of his fire for the other boy diminished after he and Angie broke up. But even though his mind was rationalizing his course of action, the rest of his body was gearing up for a showdown.  
He was less the thirty feet away from his destination when Cole spotted him and warned Shane of his approach. Shane looked surprised momentarily then hardened his face with a half sneer. The other boys around him lined up beside him, Cole and Sam to his right and Nate on his left, like bodyguards.  
“What do you want?” Shane ground out when Toby got near enough.  
Toby stopped directly in front of Shane, ignoring the other three boys that were with him. ‘Stay cool,’ he advised himself. ‘don’t let him rile you up.’  
Toby managed to keep his face neutral. “I just came to tell you to leave Angie alone.”   
Shane’s eyebrows rose a couple of notches and his eyes widened. The other boys’ reactions where similar and Sam shot him a disbelieving look. The unbelievable gall this guy had! To come up here and tell him, no, threaten him, not to talk to Angie! Who the hell did he think he was?  
Shane recovered from his brief shock and let sarcasm replace it.  
“Who are you to tell me anything?” the shorter boy challenged.   
Toby took a step closer to his rival. Shane didn’t flinch but the boys beside him tensed up in expectation of trouble, Cole giving their leader a nervous look.  
‘Don’t let him bait you in!’ he warned himself. Toby drew in a calming breath.  
“Look, I’m not here to fight with you.” he tried to assure the other boy (and himself). “Just, back off.”  
Shane cocked his head to the side. “What does it matter to you who I talk to?” he jeered. “Oh, that’s right you got the big pants for her now, don’t you?”  
Toby stiffed at the taunt. Shane smiled evilly at his reaction.  
“Thanks for the suggestion but I think I’ll be sticking around. After all,” he goaded further, “she is one tasty piece of ass.”  
Despite all his attempts to remain calm, that last statement pushed the blonde boy to his breaking point. Toby stepped towards his tormenter in a threatening fashion. The three boys by Shane’s side leapt into action to intercept him. Cole threw himself in front of Toby with his arms held wide open to prevent him from attacking the hazel eyed boy. Shane stayed where he was, smirking hatefully.   
“Take it easy guys!” Cole spluttered. He looked imploringly at Toby’s face. “Toby, man, this ain’t the place for it!”   
Toby glared violently at Shane but remained where he stood. The homeroom bell rang just then, cutting the confrontation short. Shane gave Toby one last smug look before turning and sauntering into his homeroom, followed by Nate and Sam. Cole stayed in the hallway with Toby, preventing him from going after his friend.   
Toby stood there, shaking with unspent rage. Once the other boys were safely in their homeroom, Cole dropped his arms and tried to calm the angry teen.  
“You gonna be cool now?” he asked. Toby made no reply. Cole pushed on, trying to play peace maker. “Dude, this shit has got to stop. You guys have been friends forever. No chick is worth it.”  
Toby gave him a sharp look.  
“Fuck you Cole.” he snapped then stormed off to his own homeroom.  
Toby was still fired up about his altercation when he met with Angie to walk with her to AL. She smiled at him as he approached her locker. But her smile changed to a puzzled frown when she saw his expression.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked concerned.   
Toby toned down his attitude so not to worry her. He gave her a weak smile.  
“Nothing.” he answered coolly.  
She scowled. “It doesn’t look like nothing to me.” she countered. “Seriously, what’s wrong?”  
Toby considered denying her question again but decided against it. There was no use to it. If he didn’t tell her himself, she would hear about him confronting Shane sooner or later, probably from Maggie, so it was best she heard it from him first.  
“I talked to Shane this morning.” he told her, choosing his words carefully.  
Angie narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “About what?”  
There was no sense beating around the bush. “I saw him at your locker before homeroom.” he admitted. “I told him to quit bugging you.”  
Angie was staring at him with daggers. Without warning, she whacked him on the arm with her textbook.  
“OW!” he reacted, rubbing where she hit him. “What did you do that for?”  
“For being such a macho ass!” she accused him. “Did it ever occur to you that I could handle it all by myself?”  
Toby was befuddled. What did he do wrong?  
“Well, you looked like you were too upset!” he justified. Now it was his turn to go on the offense. “What was it he said to you to get you so worked up anyway?”  
Angie was taken off guard but was not going to be daunted. “He wanted to know why I broke up with him.”  
They were at the door to Mrs. Bach’s classroom by then and stopped outside it to talk.  
“Well?” he pushed. “What did you tell him?”  
Angie looked at him astonished.  
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I told him that it just didn’t work out!”  
He relaxed a bit. Just the thought of Shane going after her again drove him crazy. But she blew him off. Toby felt validated with her answer.  
Giving her a sheepish grin he tried to make amends.   
“Sorry for butting in.” he apologized.  
Angie’s face softened. She shrugged.  
“It’s okay.” she hemmed. “But next time come to me before you do anything like that! I’m not helpless you know. I can stand up to Shane myself, at least more than he was expecting.”  
The last part of her statement led him to believe there was more to their conversation than Angie told him. But before he got a chance to question her more about it, the bell had rung signaling the start of class. All the students took their seats and prepared for the test. Mrs. Bach explained all eyes were to stay on their own papers and absolutely no talking. She started handing out the tests on the opposite side of the room from Toby and Angie. He took it as an opportunity to badger her more.   
Toby leaned forward at his desk so he could get closer to her.  
“Well?” he mumbled to her.  
“Well what?” she whispered.  
“Well what did he expect?” he rasped out in a hushed tone.  
“Toby, I don’t know what he expected and now is not the time to discuss it!” she whispered back over her shoulder. By that time Mrs. Bach was distributing tests to their row and all talking ceased.  
Toby just gaped at his test as she placed it on his desk face down, mind racing about more important matters. Though he felt confident (at least he thought he felt confident) that Angie’s affections where safely in his hands, the reintroduction of Shane back into the situation left him feeling threatened. Rivalry was blossoming within him and the need to make her his girlfriend was essential before Shane, or any other guy, got it in their head to make a play for her.   
He thought he had all the time in the world to make Angie his girlfriend and was in no rush. He enjoyed casually flirting and stealing moments together during school. Now he felt like their little liaisons in the hallways and during class weren’t enough. It was time to ask her out. But he had to get more face time with her. He knew popping it on her between classes was not the way to do it. In fact he felt quite certain she would hate it if he did that. He could start taking lunch with her but he seriously doubted she would let it get very personal with all her friends sitting around. He needed it to be one on one and soon. But with his accursed grounding, he had limited options.  
“Mr. Williams, is there a problem?”  
Toby started at the sound of his name being called, breaking the silence of the room. He looked towards the front of the classroom to who was addressing him. It was Mrs. Bach, of course, and she was eyeing him with distaste.   
“No.” he grumbled.   
“Well then I suggest you quit daydreaming and start you test.” she advised him rather curtly.  
Toby sighed heavily, flipped his test over and began. Stupid teacher. Stupid test. Stupid class. He truly hated this class. If it wasn’t for the fact he took it to get closer to Angie, he would have put himself out of his misery and flunked out of it awhile ago.   
It was as if a bell went off in his head. Toby got an idea. A perfectly wonderfully, insane idea. At that clarifying moment, Toby knew what he must do.  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
“A 17% on your test!?!” his mother screeched, waving his American Lit test in the air. “How do you get a 17% on a test?! You get five points for just putting your name and date at the top!”  
Toby kept his head down and his mouth shut as his mother went on her rampage. She had been going off on him ever since he got home and handed her his failed test, which was going on half an hour. He hadn’t fully thought his plan though when he came up with the idea of falling his AL test so he could get tutoring in the afternoons with Angie. The main part he underestimated was exactly how angry his mom would be. She was livid. He hadn’t seen her this mad since….well, since last month when he got expelled for fighting. She wasn’t quite as upset as she was then but she was pretty pissed off. ‘I’m doing it for Angie, I’m doing it for Angie’ was the mantra he kept running through his head as his mother was berating him. But his chant was interrupted by his mom mentioning extending his grounding. Toby looked up at her in a panic. He hadn’t been expecting that. He thought he would have to be on the receiving end of a rather lengthy tongue lashing but didn’t think she would go that far. Thinking fast, he tried to route his mother before she settled on the idea.  
“I’m sorry mom, I really tried but I just can’t wrap my mind around it.” He griped. “Mrs. Bach said I should go into after school tutoring but I told her that I couldn’t cause I’m grounded. Let’s face it, I’m never going to get the hang of it. I might as well drop the class.”  
“Over your dead body.” his mom scoffed. “You’re going to take those tutoring sessions after school young man and unless you pass your next test, your heiny isn’t going to so much as sit in that car let alone drive it!”  
Toby nodded his head in understanding. His plan worked a little too well. He wasn’t expecting extra punishment. But on the plus side she didn’t extend his grounding and it would get him the alone time he needed with Angie. And it’s not like he could drive now anyhow, she took the keys from him weeks ago. The soonest he could have gotten them back was next Monday and their next test was scheduled for the following Wednesday. So he wouldn’t drive for an additional two days. He could manage that. All in all, things worked out for him.  
In a couple of days, his incident with Shane was all over the school. It was all Maggie could talk about before homeroom on Wednesday. She was asking him for all the details and at one point looked at Angie and commented how lucky she was to have Toby to stand up for her like that. He could see the thunder clouds rolling into her eyes and tried to diffuse the situation by saying he needed not even bothered, Angie had him crying even before he got there. Maggie’s jaw dropped and she asked Angie it were true. She looked over at Toby who gave her a wink. They shared a secretive smile and Angie went along with the joke and told her Shane blubbered like a baby. Maggie was duly impressed and left the two alone to tell Jennifer what supposedly happened.  
“You know, that wasn’t very nice.” she scolded him with mock severity.  
“So sue me.” Toby simply said. They both had a good laugh about the little rumor they had started.   
“Oh, I wanted to tell you, I’m getting my first pupil this afternoon.” she told him. Toby smiled. He had signed up for tutoring yesterday afternoon and his first session was that day.   
Playing dumb, he said “Really? Who is it?”  
Angie just shrugged her shoulders. “No idea. Mrs. Bach just told me about it after school yesterday. She said it was some dipstick that completely bombed their last test.”  
Toby’s smile disappeared with the use of the word dipstick. Sure he wasn’t the best student in her class and he did purposely fail the last test but she didn’t have to be so insulting about it, the bitchy old bag.   
He covered his wounded ego with a vague statement about maybe if she was a better teacher that the person in question might have done better. Angie just gave him a curious look but thought nothing more of it. When the bell rang, they parted for their homerooms without anything more said on the matter.   
Toby went through the day merely marking time. He was careful not to talk about tutoring whenever he and Angie were together, and narrowly avoided outing himself when she asked him directly how he did on their last test. He just muttered not as good as he liked and she seemed satisfied with the answer. Toby patted himself on the back with keeping his little secret. He wanted to surprise her. Even though he planned this undercover operation, he had no idea how he would go about asking her out. While he didn’t want to make a big production of it, he did want it to be done correctly. He wanted her to always remember the day they started dating. In his heart, he truly felt that she was the only girl for him and he wanted to project that to her. Despite the unorthodox way he secured her affections, he wanted to impress her and make her feel special. Admittedly, playing stupid and failing a test wasn’t the best way to impress a young lady but he was put in something of a lurch. Besides, desperate times call for desperate measures. Perhaps she’d find the gesture flattering.   
Toby thought when the last bell rang, it would alleviate some of his anxieties but if anything it multiplied them. His moment of truth was swiftly approaching and he had no idea how to handle it. While he was at his locker, he seriously considered forgetting his whole plan and just getting on the bus. At the last minute, he talked himself out of it and made himself nut up and get it over with. Besides, if he skipped his tutorial, his mom would definitely have a world class hissy fit and he might never get un-grounded.  
Toby grabbed up his copy of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and headed for Mrs. Bach’s classroom. But on his way there he ran into an unexpected diversion. Coming up the hall from the opposite direction was his football coach. Since the end of the football season the two of them hadn’t spoken to each other, mostly because practices had ended. But here he was, with an armload of papers headed straight for him. An uncomfortable awkwardness climbed on Toby’s back, getting a strangle hold on the teenaged boy. He had no idea what he should do. He could turn around and head in the opposite direction, hit one of the side hallways. But he was too close to his former coach now it would appear as an immature attempt to avoid him. No, he would have to suck it up and walk past him as if he didn’t see him. Toby kept moving forward, eyes looking straight ahead. Just as he was ready to pass his coach, he cast a quick sideways glance at him. His coach’s face was devoid of any recognition. It crushed Toby to see him that way. Toby took a deep breath and he did what he should have done awhile ago.  
He turned towards his coach once they had passed each other.  
“Coach Johnson?”  
His coach stopped and slowly turned around to face Toby. His face was expressionless. Toby gulped nervously but was resolute to get things off his chest.  
“I just wanted to say I was wrong for mouthing off to you after the game that night.” he apologized. “I was being a total ass and I shouldn’t have been so disrespectful to you. Anyhow, I’m really sorry coach.”  
It was as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders as soon as the words tumbled out of his mouth. His coach measured what the boy had said to him with a cool face. He took a step closer to him, somehow reminiscent of that terrible night only a few weeks ago. He stared at Toby thoughtfully then finally spoke.  
“I know you are Williams.”  
Relief rippled throughout Toby’s body.   
“Everyone has their bad days and everyone snaps once in awhile.” he went on. “Even a good player reaches their breaking point. But the great ones learn how to leave it out on the field. I think you have the potential to be a great player. That’s what I told the scouts from Penn State and MSU last week.”  
Toby looked at his coach with shocked amazement. There were scouts at his game? Why didn’t he tell him?  
“I didn’t tell you because you were under a lot of pressure already without heaping that on the pile.” he answered Toby’s unspoken question. “And despite the outcome of that game, you impressed them enough for them to want an interview. I have the letters of request here in my pile. I was going to mail them out tomorrow but since you’re already here, I might as well give them to you now.”  
Coach Johnson dug in his papers and pulled out an envelope with his name and address on it. Toby gawked at it, uncertain what to say. He finally took it from his coach’s hand.  
“Thanks coach.” he muttered, still in a state of disbelief. He stared at the envelope as if he held a winning lottery ticket. “I don’t know what to say.”  
“You just said it.” his coach remarked. “Take it easy Williams.” And with that, the coach continued on his way.  
Toby was ecstatic! He could hardly wait to get home and show his parents! With this good news, he felt certain they would lift his calling ban and allow him to call Sarah with the good news. He couldn’t wait to tell Angie about it! This would be just the thing she….  
He cut his thought short with the realization that he was supposed to meet Angie right then for a tutoring session and he was late. Wincing at the contemplation of what kind of trouble he would be in, he raced down the hallway towards the American Lit classroom.  
When he arrived at the classroom, the door was already closed and his idea of sneaking in was dashed. He looked through the door window. There at her desk was Angie, sitting with her face down staring intently at a book. With a broad grin he opened the door.   
Angie looked up from her book expectantly but when she saw who was entering the room, her expression went from one of mild curiosity to shock. Toby’s grin widened when realization flooded into her face that he was he student for the afternoon.   
“You are five minutes late.”  
Whatever enjoyment he might have been feeling up until then came crashing down at the sound of that voice. Mrs. Bach. Flinchingly, he turned toward the surly woman.  
“I’m sorry Mrs. Bach.” he apologized. “I would have got here sooner but I ran into my coach in the hall and he wanted to talk to me about-”  
“Mr. Williams, you are here on my time.” she interrupted abruptly. “I will not tolerate tardiness. This tutorial is for your benefit, not mine. Next time you’re late, you’re out.”  
Toby quickly shut his trap knowing whatever excuse he would try to give her would matter a fig to the woman. Instead he proceeded to the desk next to Angie’s with his tail tucked between his legs. He pushed the two desks together and sat down.  
Angie watched him with stunned incredulity. “You’re the dipstick that crapped out on his test?” she whispered.   
Toby rolled his eyes and gave her a humoring smile. “And it’s nice to see you again too.”  
“How did you bomb the test that bad?” she wanted to know. “I mean I know you have a few troubles here and there with subjective and objective writing, but from what Mrs. Bach said you’re a few IQ points above idiocy.” Toby glared up at Mrs. Bach. She was sipping on a cup tea and looking through the lifestyle section of the newspaper. God how he hated that woman! One day she was going to wake up to four flat tires and a deflated spare.  
“Well,” he began, “I flunked my test because I wanted to talk to you about something.”  
Angie looked puzzled. “You mean you failed on purpose? God Toby, are you nuts? You could talk to me anytime! Before school, during lunch, between classes, all good times to talk!”  
“Yeah but I wanted to talk to you alone.” He said with a sly grin.   
Before she could ask what his meaning behind his statement was, they heard a rather loud clearing of one’s throat. They both looked up to see Mrs. Bach peering over her newspaper with a disapproving look on her face. Both students flipped open their books and Angie announced in a rather loud voice they would be going over the symbolism of the snowman that Jem and Scout made in front of Miss Maudie Atkinson's house.  
“I wanted to talk to you alone because I had something really big to tell you.” He whispered to her.  
She ignored him as if he hadn’t said anything at all. “What the author was trying to show was since there was not enough snow for the snowman, Jem used dirt for the foundation and then covered it with the snow that they did have. The snowman is symbolic in that Jem is trying to cover up the black man and showing that he is the same as the white man.”   
“I’ve got interviews with scouts from both Penn State and MSU.”  
“And the fire in Miss Maudie’s house-” Angie stopped mid sentence, finally registering what he just said.  
“Toby, that’s great news!” she gushed quietly. “How’d you find out about that?”  
“I ran into Coach Johnson in the hall and he told me that they were there at the last game and they liked what they saw. He gave me the letter of request just now!”  
He showed the letter to Angie. Her eyes quickly skimmed over its contents, lips moving in sync with the words she read. When she did finish, she looked back to Toby with clear joy in her eyes.  
“I’m so happy for you! Which one are you thinking about choosing? Penn State has an engineering department that is far and away the best in the country but MSU has the largest and best career placement services in the nation.”  
Once again, it was as if she were speaking a different language. The only thing that Toby had considered up to that point was which one was the better party town. Knowing this was not an answer that would please her, he compromised by being as truthful as possible without making her mad.  
“I hadn’t thought about that yet.” he admitted. “I figured I would just wait and see which one offers me the better deal.”  
Angie scrunched up her face like she had just swallowed a bug. Toby knew he still said the wrong thing. But before she could point out the flaws in his reasoning, Mrs. Bach interrupted them.  
“Miss Bernard, if you would like to socialize please feel free to after you’re done tutoring. Until then, keep to the matter at hand.”  
So for the next forty five minutes Toby and Angie went over the symbolic meanings in To Kill a Mockingbird. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t nearly as dull as he first imagined it would be. And Angie continued to amaze him with her grasp on the material. She quickly deciphered the meanings behind the many representative figures for him in a way he could easily understand. He admired her understanding of the subject and had a new respect for the pretty girl. He stared at her with a new found awe.   
Nearing the end of the session, Mrs. Bach found it necessary to excuse herself for a restroom break. This was just the chance he was looking for. As soon as the door closed behind her, Toby fixed Angie with a smirking gaze.  
Unable to hold up under the weight of his stare, Angie gave him dodging glances.   
“What?” she asked when she couldn’t stand it any more.   
Toby grinned suggestively at her. “Do you know how incredibly cute you are when you’re concentrating?”  
Angie blushed furiously at his statement. Trying not to let it fluster her too much, she said in as stern a voice that she could, “Mrs. Bach will be back any minute! Let’s just keep to book shall we?”  
Toby placed his hand over her book, blocking her view. After all the angst and drama, he finally told her what he was waiting three months to say.  
“Angie, there’s something I’ve been dying to tell you for awhile now, I’ve just been waiting for the right time to say it.” he took in a steadying breath. “Ang, the reason I failed my test was because I wanted to get some time alone with you.”  
She looked a little bewildered but said nothing.  
“And the reason I wanted to talk with you alone was,” ‘It’s now or never,’ he thought, “I’ve been crazy about you from the first time I laid eyes on you.” he confessed. “You’re on my mind constantly. You’re the first thing I think about when I get up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep.”  
‘It’s getting too theatrical!’ his little voice hollered at him. But Toby didn’t care. He was going to let her know exactly how he felt about her.   
“Angie you are the prettiest, nicest, smartest girl I know and I’d fail a hundred tests if you’d be my girlfriend.”  
There. It was all out in the open. Everything he felt for her put in the eloquence only a seventeen year old possessed. He reached out and took her hand in his.   
“So how about it?” he pressed on. “Will you be my girlfriend?”  
Angie had sat silent and spellbound throughout Toby’s admission. She stared at him with misty eyes and her cheeks held a pink tint. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing would come out. After a few seconds she opted for a more non verbal response and shook her head up and down quickly.  
A relieved grin began to spread across Toby’s face. After all this time and his sacrifice Angie was finally his.  
“Yes?” he asked her with a roguish smile. Angie bobbed her head even more enthusiastically. Toby’s grin grew even wider as he leaned in to seal the deal with a kiss.  
When his lips brushed gently against hers he heard her sharp intake of breath that lit his nerves aflame. He settled his lips firmly against hers and drank in their flavor. Her mouth was soft and pliant and she tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Toby obliged her, fire racing through his veins. Her taste was exotic and intoxicating, driving him to want more and more of it. They stayed like that for several minutes, each relishing the other’s touch. When the kiss finally did end he felt like a man in the desert just replenished with cool, sweet water.  
And their kiss didn’t end a moment too soon. A few seconds later Mrs. Bach returned to the new couple, oblivious to the fact that there was a rather heated make out session going on in her absence. The two teens coyly went back to their tutoring session with their teacher none the wiser.  
When his lesson was over, Toby walked Angie to he locker holding hands. There they shared another kiss, shorter then the first, and prepared to part company.  
“So when can you got out with me?” he asked his new girlfriend.  
The girl gave him a playful smile. “I don’t know. When’s a good time for you?”  
“Well, my grounding officially ends this Sunday, but by then the weekend will be pretty much shot then. How about we hit a movie Friday night?”  
Angie nodded her head in agreement and grabbed up her satchel. With one last kiss the parted company.  
Toby’s mother was waiting for him in the car at the front entrance. He opened up the back door and threw his bag in the back seat. He then hopped into the front and sunk into the seat in a blissful heap.  
“How was school today?” Karen Williams asked her son.  
A happily contented look settled on his face. With a knowing smile, he answered his mother.  
“It was great.”  
.  
.  
PART 5  
.  
The rest of Toby’s week was one high point after the other. His parents were overjoyed with the news that their son was being recruited by not one but two prominent universities. They were so pleased with the news that his father proposed the whole family celebrate on Sunday with dinner at The Hudson House. And his mother did indeed lift his calling ban (only one call though, to his sister, no longer than fifteen minutes) so he could share the good news with Sarah. Toby hurried to the phone to call his sister. Her phone rang for an annoying long time. Right before he was about to hang up, she picked up.  
“Hello?” he heard his sister answer. She sounded out of breath, like she ran up a flight of steps to answer the phone.  
“Hey Sis!” he greeted her excitedly over the phone.  
“Tobes!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing calling, I didn’t think your grounding was over until Sunday?”  
“Yeah, well Mom cut me some slack since I got such great news to tell you.” He paused for dramatic effect. “I just found out today that I’ve been scouted by Penn State University and MSU!”  
Sarah squealed joyfully over the phone. Toby pulled the receiver away from his ear so not to be deafened by her enthusiastic shouts. “CONGRATULATIONS TOBY!! Oh my God, I can hardly believe it! Two of the Big Ten! Which one are you thinking about going with? You know I hear State College is a real party town.”  
Toby grinned shrewdly. His sister knew him so well.  
“I’m not really sure.” He told her. “I haven’t had the interviews yet. But dad said we’re all going out to The Hudson House on Sunday to celebrate. You gonna come?”  
“When have you ever known me to pass up a free meal?” she teased. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”  
The two siblings exchanged information about what all new was going on. Toby told Sarah that as of that very afternoon, he was officially off the market. Sarah was pleased to know it an asked who the lucky girl was. He proudly told her it was Angie Bernard, to which Sarah responded by asking if it was the same girl he came to her asking advice about. He confirmed her supposition.  
“Well way to go Casanova Williams.” she praised. “See? I told you to just be yourself and she’d come around.”  
Toby grew quiet. He felt a pang of disgrace at his sister’s acclaim since he didn’t prevail through his own means. He had….help.   
He squirmed in his seat. “Yeah, well, what can I say? I just did what you said and she was putty in my hands.” he joked to lessen some of the uneasiness he felt.  
“You need to listen to your big sister more often.” she encouraged. “Girls love it when their men share their feelings.”  
“Okay, okay. When you’re right, you’re right.” he agreed grudgingly. “Just don’t let it go to your head. It’ll look ten pounds fatter on camera.”  
“Ewww, somebody’s got their mensies today.” Sarah snarked.  
Toby laughed at her. “Don’t worry Sis, I’ll still love you…..fat head and all.”  
Sarah grumbled at him, “Well if that’s what you call love, then I’d rather you hate me.”  
Toby burst out laughing at her. He missed talking to her like this! He hadn’t really thought about it much until he was grounded. There was so much he would have liked to have shared with his big sister over the last month. He resolved to fill her in on everything come Sunday afternoon. Well, almost everything.  
“Hey, I better get off the phone now before mom has a conniption fit.” he said after looking at his watch and seeing his fifteen minutes were almost up. “See you Sunday.”  
“See you then.” she agreed. “Bye baby brother!”  
And with that their phone call ended.  
The next day at school, everybody knew that Toby and Angie were now a couple. How they found out had Toby completely snowed, because he didn’t tell anyone except Sarah and Angie didn’t mention it to any of her friends. But when he arrived at the school, his friends cheered and whooped at him about it. The cheers really went up when he told them that Penn State and MSU were looking to recruit him. All his friends swatted him on the back after hearing the good news. Then he came to find out the Chad Harter had been contacted by Ohio State and Shane even got a nod from Boston College. Toby congratulated Chad and slapped him on the back as well. But he was oddly conflicted about the news on Shane. While he was tickled that Shane wasn’t approached by a bigger college, he felt an inkling of regret along with it. He thought back when they were still just freshmen, the plans they made for college. They were going as a team, whichever college the one went to, the other would too. They were going to stay a team. Now with him going to one of the Big Ten and Shane likely headed for BC, that once dream was dead. Even though he and Shane were still on the outs, he felt its loss, no matter how minutely.  
Inside the school, Angie was getting the first degree from her friends. They were piled on at all sides, wanting all the details on how she landed the high school quarterback. She looked pleadingly at him as he approached. She was not at all comfortable with this amount of attention. Toby came to her rescue and they excused themselves from the crowd. All the girls giggled and passed flirty smirks around. All except Maggie Gilepsie, who stood off to the side looking a little down trodden. Toby noticed the girl’s gloomy behavior. He knew Maggie had a crush on him ever since he approached her on the first day of school and, though he didn’t do anything to encourage it, he still was at fault for not correcting it. He felt a twinge of remorse for the sad girl. Despite her constant yammering and reputation for being a bit of a gossip, Maggie was genuinely a good person and Toby pitied her for the pain of them being together must be causing her. Toby swore to himself he would make it up to her somehow.   
Once the novelty of their relationship wore off, people got back to viewing them as the same Toby and Angie as before. But there were added perks to being a couple. Now whenever they met up between classes they’d steal a kiss or two whenever the hall monitors were looking the other way. When they walked the halls it was hand in hand and at lunch, Toby made himself a permanent fixture at the girls’ lunch table. And after school, they would cozy up (as much as Mrs. Bach would allow, which wasn’t much) for Toby’s tutoring lessons. Life was pretty sweet for Toby.  
The weekend was upon him before he knew it and Toby was anxiously looking forward to Sunday. Not only because it was his last day of being grounded, which was reason enough to throw a party, but because he was going out with his whole family to his favorite restaurant. What he was really looking forward to was spending time with Sarah. He hadn’t seen her since that Sunday right before his fight with Todd. She was busy negotiating new contracts for her television shows at the time and was bogged down with endless haggling and paperwork but in the end she got everything she went in after. It didn’t surprised Toby at all. He saw first hand how his sister wore his parents down when she took it to her head that she wanted something. But now, with the ink dry on her contracts, Sarah was free to spend an enjoyable evening with the family.  
They all decided to meet up at The Hudson House at around six o’clock that evening. Since The Hudson House was a semi-formal type of restaurant, his father dressed in a suit and tie and mother put on one of her more elegant dresses. Toby settled on a light blue shirt with a dark striped tie and dress slacks. But Sarah was truly the show stopper among them. She came in a smart little knee length black cocktail dress, with short sleeves and a jewel neckline. It was simple A line dress without any extra frills or ruffles. She matched them with dark hose and black open toed heels. She let her hair hang loose and wore only minimal make-up, mascara and a rose colored lipstick. She looked chic and sophisticated and impressed Toby as a very confidant career woman. She twirled graciously for her family’s inspection and was declared by Karen to be absolutely stunning. With the private fashion show over, they all entered the establishment.  
The Williams family was seated and the process of food ordering commenced. Roger Williams informed his family that they could order anything off the menu, that this was a celebration. The children ordered first, Toby choosing the surf and turf platter and Sarah ordering the lobster ravioli. Then it was the older Williamses turn, Roger picked the steak au poivre and Karen stuck with the warmed ceasar salad with bacon and white anchovies. Once the waiter had left to place their order, the conversation started.  
It first began with them making a toast to Toby’s great achievement and lead off into the pros and cons of each university. After they discussed the academics of each college the conversation began to sway towards Sarah and her career, then inevitably to the topic of why she was still single. He thought he knew the outcome of where this was going; his mom prying to find out if she was seeing anyone, Sarah’s excuse about being too busy for a relationship and neither one of them talking to the other by the end of dinner. But this night it seemed, Toby was in for a bit of a surprise.   
“So Sarah, why didn’t you bring your new boyfriend along?” his mom inquired.  
Toby quit munching on the breadsticks that were in the middle of the table. He hadn’t heard of any new boyfriends. He turned to his sister curious to hear about this new man.  
“Oh, well Matt’s been out of town on business.” she explained smoothly. “He won’t be back until Tuesday.”  
“And where did you meet this young man?” their dad wanted to know.  
“We met last month at the station’s cast party. He’s a producer on the evening news and we hit it off so well we started dating.”  
“Is this serious?” Karen toned in.  
Sarah rolled her eyes thoughtfully in pondering. “It’s getting there.”  
By this time, the food had arrived and they all marveled at the scents and presentation of the dishes. Karen and Roger dove into their plates, occasionally making a comment on how good the food was to one another. Toby and Sarah did likewise with there meals but between bites, Toby leaned over to his sister to quietly interrogate her.  
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” he whispered to her. “So tell me more about this Matt guy.”  
Sarah answered her brother between bites. “There’s nothing to tell. I made him up.”  
Toby looked at her baffled.  
“What?” he said.  
Sarah kept casually chewing her dinner. “I made him up.” she admitted. “Dad and Karen are constantly hounding me about settling down and starting a family so I invented an imaginary boyfriend to get them off my back. An evil necessity I assure you. Just wait until you get to be my age and they start in on you.”  
“Yeah, but what are you going to do when the eventually ask to meet this pretend boyfriend?” he wanted to know.  
Sarah shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to break up then.” she rationalized. “And it will be such a heart wrenching break up too. I haven’t decided whether it will be because he’s moving out of the country after a job or he wasn’t willing to commit. I’ll play it by ear when the time comes.”  
Toby was thoroughly impressed with the ease in which she made up that story to divert their parents. She truly was a talented actress! He didn’t think he could be more proud of her than he was at that moment.  
As dinner began to wind down (seats were beginning to be pushed out, napkins tossed to the table in defeat) another waiter approached the table with a dessert plate in his hands. He gingerly placed it before Sarah. It was a delectable peach tart with a delicate sprinkling of powdered sugar on top. Sarah looked up at the waiter.  
“I didn’t order this.” she protested.  
“A gentleman at the bar requested that it be sent over to you Miss.” the waiter explained.  
Sarah’s face paled and she looked around the restaurant frightfully. Not locating her mysterious admirer, she brought her attention back to the tart. She looked at it as if the waiter put a bowl full of worms and insects in front of her.  
“Take it back.”   
The server looked at her in surprise.  
“Miss?”  
“I said: take it back.” she insisted. “I don’t want it.”  
The waiter continued to look baffled but did as he was told and removed the pastry from in front of her. He returned it to the kitchen untouched.  
“Hey, what did you do that for?” Toby asked. “That looked good! I would have ate it.”  
Sarah slid her chair out the rest of the way from the table and stood up.  
“I have to go.” She announced briskly.  
The rest of the family was astonished with her sudden announcement. Up until a minute ago they were enjoying a relaxed family dinner. Now Sarah was ready to bolt from the restaurant as if she found a cockroach floating in her tea.   
“Sarah, are you alright?” their father asked her with concern.  
Sarah looked around the table at their worried faces. She visibly calmed herself.  
“What? Uh, yeah dad, everything’s alright.” she assured him. “I’m just feeling a bit queasy is all. Must have been the ravioli. You know, I think it’s just best if I head home.”  
Sarah pushed in her chair, picked up her purse and hurried out of the restaurant, leaving behind three worried and very confused family members.  
.  
.  
PART 6  
.  
After the episode at the restaurant, Toby tried calling his sister when he got home but to no avail. She never answered her phone that night and he didn’t reach her until the following evening. When she finally did answer her phone, he was more than a little sore at her.  
“What the hell was that last night?” he demanded referring to her abrupt departure. “Why’d you run off like that?”  
“I told you, I wasn’t feeling good.” she stubbornly clung to her story.  
“Yeah right. Seriously Sarah, Dad was footing the bill, you didn’t have to pull a dine and dash.” he said mockingly.  
“Look Toby, if you just called to get on my case, this conversation is over right now.” she threatened.   
Toby was put off with the way his sister was acting, defensive and secretive. She was never like that with him. They could always share everything with one another. True, it was mostly Toby that did the sharing but here was clearly a case where Sarah had something preying on her mind and it stung him a little that she wouldn’t reach out to him.   
“Sarah, there’s obviously something bothering you.” he tried to draw her out. “Maybe if you tell me what it is, I can help you with it. Is it about a guy?”  
“Toby,” she sighed, “it’s…. not that simple.”  
“Sure it is!” he volunteered enthusiastically. “Quarterback of the football team, remember? I can knock some sense into him for you sis!”  
“Toby, I really don’t think-”  
“C’mon Sarah! Just tell me what it is! You helped me out whenever I had any problems. Just give me a chance to do the same for you.”  
“Look, this isn’t like that time when you moaned about some girl not liking you and I held your hand and told you whatever you wanted to hear!” she snapped angrily at him. “This isn’t any of your business!”  
Toby was speechless. He couldn’t believe what she had just said to him! He couldn’t believe how she belittled him when he came to her for advice. He bore his soul to her and all this time she was just pretending to care and lying to him.  
“So you lied to me.” he said with quiet finality.  
“Toby that’s not what I meant-”  
He cut her excuse short. “Hey you don’t have to explain to me. After all, the way you’ve been lying to everyone else lately, I was beginning to feel left out.”  
Toby slammed the phone down so hard on the receiver he thought it might have cracked. He was hurt and embarrassed by the way she hollered at him over the phone. Well if that was the way she felt, he would make sure he never bothered her with his problems again.  
Other than his little tiff with his sister, everything else was going terrific in Toby’s life. He had his interviews with Penn State and MSU, both colleges offering him a full scholarship, and was planning a trip to PSU to tour the campus in a few weeks. In school, Toby completely redeemed himself in American Lit with an 88% on his test, which had his teacher utterly disappointed. He would have gotten a ninety but she docked him two points for putting the wrong date on the top of his paper, just out of spite. But her petty little trick didn’t bother him. He was excited he beat his previous high score of 64%. When his mother saw his test she practically jumped for joy and, as promised, she restored the keys to his Nova back to him. Toby ran out into the driveway to reunite with his long denied friend.  
The first place he drove was down to Railroad Street to visit with Angie. He pulled into her driveway and revved the engine a couple of times. She came out of the house and was delighted to see who it was. He cut the engine, and walked up to the porch. Angie flung her arms around him and gave him a huge kiss. It was a warm November afternoon so they sat on the porch looking through the movie section trying to decide which movie they would go see on Friday, while her little sister Mariah played in the yard. After much debate over whether they were going to see Black Hawk Down or Far From Heaven, they both compromised with seeing the newest Lord of the Rings movie, which he suspected was really the movie she wanted to see in the first place. At around six o’clock her mother finally got home from work and Angie politely made the introductions. Their was definite family resemblance between mother and daughter and Toby made sure to comment that he could see where Angie got her good looks. Ms Bernard cocked an eyebrow but smiled warmly at the boy’s attempt at flattery and invited him to stay for supper. Toby politely declined, saying his mom was already making dinner but would like to take her up on the offer in the future. Angie’s mother nodded graciously and she took Mariah with her into the house. Toby stayed with Angie a little longer on the front porch before he finally had to leave. With a parting kiss Toby hopped into his car and headed for home.   
The night of their date was quite possibly the best night of his life. He picked her up at her house at six thirty. She came sprinting out to his car dressed in blue jeans, a grey cami and her navy zip up hoody. She had her hair pulled back and small teardrop earrings dangling from her ears. Toby thought she was the most charming creature God had ever created. Her mother made a brief appearance as she leaned out the door and hollered out at the two kids that she wanted her daughter home at eleven o’clock and not a minute after. Toby and Angie both agreed and waved to her as they backed out of the driveway.  
They headed straight to the theater, chatting about they week they had at school and how Mrs. Bach had it out for Toby. During the movie, they held hands which Toby would frequently lift up to his lips to give a little peck. The movie that they picked was really very good. He never would have expected the film to be as exciting at it was. His favorite parts were when the orcs attacked the movie’s heroes and Angie would cringe into his side and half hide her face in his arm. Then he would place his arm around her shoulders to reassure her and she cuddled in closer to him. He could smell the scent of her shampoo, an unusual combination of citrus and…pomegranates? He wasn’t certain precisely what it was just that is smelled fresh and reviving. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head and felt her squeeze his hand in response. Anyone witnessing the tender moment could be left in no doubt that this couple was in love.  
When the movie left out, they stopped over at Gino’s for a couple of slices and some drinks. It was rapidly approaching ten o’clock and the pizzeria was nearly empty, with the exception of a few customers stopping by for pick up. Other than that, the teens had the restaurant all to themselves, which suited them just fine. In the corner of the pizzeria, there was an older style arcade game, a throw back to the early nineties. It was called Street Fighter and the object of the game was to beat the crap out of your opponent. Toby challenged her to a game. Angie asserted that she wasn’t a very good at video games and didn’t know how to play the game. But he easily talked her into it and Toby cashed in five dollars to plunk into the video game. He educated her on the buttons, showing what each button did, and how joystick worked. Once she got the general idea of what to do he popped in a quarter and promised her he would take it easy. At first, she was easy pickings getting killed off within a couple of minutes into the game. But then as the game progressed, so did her skill. Before long, Toby gave up taking it easy on her and was concentrating on keeping his guy alive. By the end of the pile of quarters, Angie was well ahead of him in points and on the energy bar.   
When their last man was destroyed, it was almost twenty til eleven and time to get her home. They pulled into the driveway five minutes before curfew. Her mom had left the porch light on and there was a lamp lit in one of the rooms. They had just enough time to get a proper goodnight in. After a few minutes of kissing, Angie untangled herself from his arms and departed from the car. Before she slammed the car door shut Toby leaned across his front seat to look at her.  
“You know I love you.” he said honestly.  
There was a twinkle in her eyes when she looked at him with a smile.  
“I know.” she said playfully. Then she closed his door and trotted up to the house.   
The next two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving vacation, the young couple did all the usual things sweethearts do. One of the more memorable events was when Toby introduced her to his parents. It was on a Tuesday evening that Angie drove over after her mother relieved her from babysitting duty. Toby could see that she was extremely nervous about meeting his folks, no doubt scared they might not like her. She needn’t have worried, Roger and Karen Williams were enchanted by the sweet girl and his mom could easily distinguish that she was the reason behind her son’s recent good grades in AL. As the boys went into the kitchen to get everyone drinks, Karen continued the conversation by cordially asking Angie about her background. When they were alone in the other room Roger whispered to his son “She’s a keeper.” and annunciated his point with a broad wink. By the end of the visit, both Angie and his parents were making easy conversation.  
The only person who hadn’t had a chance to meet his new girlfriend was Sarah. Ever since he had that big blow up over the phone, Toby hadn’t talked to his sister since. Sarah had made efforts to smooth it over with her brother, even calling for him on a few occasions. But he had refused her calls unwilling to let bygones be bygones. This left his mother to make up whatever excuses for him she could. He was determined to hold on to his grudge and punish her for what she carelessly said. If he only knew what was in store for them in the near future, I think he would have put aside his pride and made up with his sister. But hindsight is twenty-twenty and with Toby it was no different.   
Despite his best efforts, there was no avoiding her when she stopped by on a visit the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Angie was spending time with Toby that afternoon, working on their assignment for American Lit up in his room (which Karen Williams insisted that they keep the door wide open and made frequent courtesy visits upstairs to see if the kids needed anything) when Sarah stopped in. He could hear her car as it pulled into the driveway and was surprised by her unexpected visit. He remained in his bedroom when he heard he enter the house instead of going downstairs to see her. Sarah kind of figured he was hiding out up there because of her so she went about her visit and sat with Karen at the kitchen table sipping coffee and discussing her week. But Toby couldn’t stay hid away forever. He had to return Angie to her home by four that afternoon. As the clock was nearing three-forty, Toby knew he couldn’t put off the inevitable any longer and he helped gather up her schoolbooks and prepared to leave. They tromped down the stairs and headed for the kitchen where Toby left his keys on the counter. When they entered the room, Sarah stopped what she was talking about with her stepmother and looked warmly at her brother and his guest. But Toby’s heart was hardened and when she saw that her son wasn’t forthcoming with introducing the girls, Karen took it upon herself to make the introductions.  
“Sarah, this is Toby’s new girlfriend, Angie Bernard.”  
Sarah stood up and held out her hand to the younger girl. Angie took the offered hand and with a friendly “Hi” she shook it.  
“It’s very nice to meet you.” Sarah said with a welcoming smile on her lips. “My brother has told me nothing but good things about you.”  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you also.” she retuned.  
“Mom, I’m going to take Angie home now.” Toby broke in, cutting the meeting short. Karen looked at her son, mildly shocked by his abruptness, and told him not to be late for dinner. With a quick ‘bye’ the two teens were out the door headed for his Nova.  
“Your sister seems nice.” She commented on the way to the car.  
“She’s okay.” He said dismissively. And that was all he had to say about the subject.  
As Thanksgiving loomed ever closer, Karen was franticly cleaning the house and shopping like a mad woman, trying to get prepared for the holiday feast. It was their year to host and his dad’s sister and brother (complete with their broods) and Toby’s remaining grandparents were coming over for Thanksgiving dinner this year and his mom was beside herself with preparations. Toby wasn’t too excited about the onslaught of relatives coming that day. He rarely saw his dad’s side of the family, except for holidays and reunions, and the thought of his house being packed to the rafters with little kids and relatives left him longing for the holiday to be over already. In the past, when he was just a little kid himself, he used to be thrilled when they’d all get together. It was left up to Sarah to entertain him and the younger kids after dinner while the adults got caught up. They would play a game she called ‘the Bog of Eternal Stench’ where she’d pretend to be a bog beast and would try to catch all the little kids and throw them into the bog, which was really the old sandbox out in the back yard. Everyone would run squealing in all directions as she stumbled and lurched after them. But those days were past. Toby and his cousins were all older now and he wasn’t talking to Sarah much these days. Add on the fact that Angie was going to be out of town visiting her relatives with her mom and sister until Saturday, and it was shaping up to be a pretty isolated holiday for him.  
When the big day finally arrived, the extended Williams family all converged on their little Victorian like invading hordes of Mongols. After his adult family members commented on how much he had grow since they last saw him, Toby was forced to be re-introduced to his cousins, who were all older as well and equally as thrilled to be there. His oldest cousin, Kaitlin, had undergone some sort of radical transformation. The formerly cheery redhead dyed her hair black, was dressed from head to foot in black with chains hanging all over, had garish makeup on (complete with a hoop nose ring) and was now going by the name ‘Raven’. She was apparently into the new ‘goth’ scene but to Toby she looked like she just stepped out of a horror movie. His opinion of her didn’t improve any either when she asked him if he had any smokes.  
Sarah had arrived an hour before dinner was to get underway carrying a sweet potato casserole in her hands as she entered the kitchen. She gave her aunts, uncles and grandparents hugs and kisses. They were fascinated with their famous niece who was on television and were enthralled with her tales of the business. Toby (who was warned before hand not to run upstairs and lock himself in his room at any time that day) was in the living room with all the other men, and his thirteen year old cousin, Brent, who was also in football, as he incessantly reminded his older cousin. The men were busy congratulating Toby on his recent college recruitment and proceeded trying to advise him which university he should attend and why. After awhile, his mother came into the living room to announce that dinner was served.   
Chaos ensued as everybody congregated in the dining room. Toby was seated next to Sarah and his new admirer Brent tried to take the spot to the right of him, only to be banished to the kiddie’s table under protest. Toby coolly regarded his sister throughout the meal but she barely took time to notice, since she was so busy talking with her two aunts about her career. Toby was also otherwise preoccupied with the football scholarship conversation that his uncles carried over from the living room. By the time the meal was over, the blonde teenager was full of both turkey and conversation.   
After the dinner the men and women separated into their over respective parts of the house. His mom, aunts and grandmother were in the kitchen busy gossiping and tidying up after the big meal. The men reconvened in the living room to watch the Lions vs. Cowboys game and bluster to one another about who was going to win. Toby took this opportunity to get a little quiet time alone and self exiled himself to the garage.  
But the solitude he was looking for evaded him again when he stepped out the back door and saw a bunch of his cousins messing around inside his car. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Toby came to his Nova’s rescue, yanked one of the kids off the hood and pulled two out from inside the car. The fourth that had been hiding in the back seat, bolted from the car while he was preoccupied with his siblings. The kids all ran for the safety of the house. ‘They better not be in there messing up my room’ he thought and was ready to go in and defend his bedroom when Sarah stepped out the back door and met him there on the porch.  
“Hey tobe. Whatcha up to?” she asked him.  
There was no avoiding her or the question at this point unless he was willing to just ignore her and push past. He wasn’t so he gave her a short answer in hopes it would satisfy her and he could go about his business.  
“I’m trying to stop those delinquents from ripping up my stuff.” he grumbled as he tried to go back into the house.  
But Sarah wasn’t having any of that. She inoffensively side stepped in front of him, blocking his route.   
“Toby, we got to talk.” She told him. There was a pleading undertone in her voice.  
Toby straightened himself to his full height. “So talk.” He said in a detached way. He wasn’t going to make it easy on her.  
Sarah saw she was going to have a struggle with him so she decided to open negotiations with a peace offering.   
“I had this made for you.” she said handing him a keychain. It was silver and embossed with his high school’s mascot, his name and 2003 underneath it on the one side. The other side held a picture of him and Sarah together after one of his football games that fall.   
“I was going to give it to you for Christmas, but you know me, I can’t keep a secret worth a crap.”  
“Oh I don’t know about that.” He muttered as he inspected his early present.  
Sarah ignored his comment. “The picture slides out.” she offered helpfully, “You know, if you want to put a photo of you and Angie in there instead.”  
Toby sighed and looked up at his sister. He could see the desperation in her eyes. She was trying to make amends. He knew he should be mad at her, he should be furious for what she said, but with her standing there looking all sad and vulnerable, he didn’t have it in him to stay angry.  
“Now why would I do that?” he asked about the picture swapping. “I look good in this photo.”  
The both laughed at his comment, relieving the tension in the situation. When their laughter died down Sarah looked up at her brother with sincerity in her eyes.  
“Toby, I’m so sorry for what I said and did to you.” she apologized. “It’s just I was having a rough day and all and then I got that damn piece of pie-” she cut her own statement off. “You know what, no. There is no excuse for me acting that way to you. I didn’t mean any of the awful things I said to you, I was just taking my bad day out on you. Do you forgive me?”  
Toby’s only answer was to reach out to his sister and give her a hug. Sarah let herself become enfolded in her taller sibling’s arms and gave him a tight squeeze back. Standing there like that, he wondered to himself how he could have ever stayed mad with her for this long? He could feel his sister start to weakly shudder in his grip and realized she was preparing for a crying jag.  
“Don’t cry little butterfly.” He recited from one of those stupid books he was always reading in American Lit class. His silly quote had the effect he was going for. Sarah stopped shaking and looked up at him with sarcastic disbelief.   
“You did not just say that to me.”   
Toby grinned. “I was just so caught up in the moment!”   
Sarah pushed herself away from him in mock disgust.   
“You are such a total dweeb.” she insulted him. “I don’t know what a nice girl like Angie sees in you.”  
Toby started flexing and struck a pose. “I think it’s pretty obvious.” he grunted out.  
Then Sarah really did laugh. Long and loud. She finally managed to stifle her giggles and with a hiccup or two, then made a proposition.  
“The two of you oughtta come over to my place some weekend.” she suggested. “You know, bring her around to hang out with your famous sister and impress her with my big city living.”  
Toby knew what his sister meant by her ‘big city living’. She’s take them out for putt-putt golf, some kind of foreign cuisine then home to her place where she’d invariably fall asleep in a puddle of melted ice cream after looking over her scripts. But he had a feeling that Angie would almost definitely find that kind of outing appealing.  
“We could do that sometime, as long as you’re paying.” he insisted. “C’mon, let’s go inside. I think I have a little corner in my stomach open for a piece of pumpkin pie.”  
“Ugh, I can’t.” she groaned. “I promised some friends and coworkers I’d stop by a get together they were having. I know exactly what they’re up to. They drag me kicking and screaming out of my spinsterhood to introduce me to some guy they know is just perfect for me, so I can go out and have coffee with them only to have them never call me again. I don’t know why I bother.”  
Toby made an exaggerated gasp. “Does Matt know that you’re cheating on him?”  
Sarah narrowed her eyes at his antics, then started digging in her purse for her keys.  
“Honestly, I don’t know why I bother with you.”  
“Maybe you could go to couple’s therapy?” he called after her as she was walking to her car. “I hear there are some really good pretend therapists out there.”  
He could hear his sister mutter under her breath “You’re a jackass”.   
He knew he wasn’t really pissing her off so he couldn’t help yelling out one more jab as she was pulling out of the driveway.  
“He’s a good man Sarah! Just give him a chance!”  
“Go to hell!” she called out pleasantly, waving her hand out the window as she sped off down the road.  
.  
.  
PART 7  
.  
Finally Toby’s Thanksgiving nightmare ended. It wasn’t until almost six in the evening that the last of the Williams family scattered to the wind vowing to get together again at Christmastime. Toby almost had a stroke when he heard they would be doing it all over again in less than a month’s time. Toby went out into the kitchen to drown his sorrows in leftover turkey and stuffing.  
His mother was in the kitchen, putting away the last of the dishes from the day’s eating. He made a beeline to the fridge and started pulling out covered dishes for his snack. His mother gave him a dirty look for messing up more dishes right after she had them all done but didn’t say a word. When his plate was warmed, he sat down at the kitchen table and started shoveling it into his face.  
“Did your sister get to talk to you before she left?” his mom asked him as she put away the bowls.  
Toby managed out a muffled ‘yeah’ between mouthfuls.   
“Tobias David, don’t speak with your mouthful!” she reprimanded him.  
Toby swallowed his mouthful then tried again. “Yeah, we talked.”  
“So did you two make up?”  
Toby paused to swallow another mouthful before answering. “Yeah, we’re good.”  
His mother looked pleased. She walked over to her son and ran her hand over his head.  
“That’s good.” she said. “I’m glad to see the two of you talking again. I’m so proud of the both of you, Sarah with her career and you going off soon to play college football. You father and I couldn’t be more pleased. And now that Sarah’s seeing this Matt fellow, who knows? Maybe she’ll be ready to make us grandparents?”  
Toby nearly blew milk out his nose at his mother’s last statement but managed to rein in his laughter. ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t count on that mom’ he thought to himself, but said nothing to correct her thinking. Karen leaned down to give her son a kiss.  
“Don’t forget to rinse off your dishes.” she reminded him as she left the kitchen.  
Toby finished off his snack and rinsed his plate. He was spent from the long day he had and wanted nothing more than to go to his room, flop down on his bed and zone out. And that’s just what he decided he would do. He tiredly tromped up the stairs and went to his room, shutting the door behind him. He turned on the lamp on his desk and emptied his pockets onto its surface. He pulled out the keychain that Sarah gave to him and looked it over before adding it to the pile. He had just kicked off his sneakers and was turning to throw himself down on his bed when he was met with a shocking sight that nearly made him jump out of his skin.  
Jareth, king of the goblins, was leaning casually against the far wall of his bedroom, his arms crossed over his chest.  
“You!” Toby uttered out in surprise.  
“Me.” the Goblin King confirmed with a grin.  
Toby quickly recovered from his shock and tried to act calm.  
“What are you doing here?” the human boy wanted to know. “I didn’t make any wish.”  
“And I’m not here to grant one.” he assured the boy. He gracefully pushed himself off the wall and stood at his full height. “I’m here to collect a debt.”  
‘Of course’ Toby thought to himself. How could he be so stupid and forget he still owed the Goblin King for his wish? It was just the last month or so he was so caught up with being with Angie and that little spat he had with Sarah, he had completely forgot. But the Goblin King didn’t forget.   
“Okay,” he said bracing himself, “what do you want?”  
Jareth’s grin widened but Toby could see that it didn’t reach his eyes.  
“It’s always about business with you humans!” He tsked. “Dispensing with all the pleasantries and get down to the ‘bottom line’. There used to be a time when your people knew how to treat a guest.”  
Toby thought it was odd that he considered himself a guest but said nothing. Jareth’s face drew into a sly mask.  
“How are you enjoying your wish?”  
His question caught Toby completely off guard.   
“Well it’s…..it’s great.” he admitted. The Goblin King remained silent, expecting more of an answer, never breaking his gaze.  
“I mean, yeah. It worked out just like it was supposed to.” he went on. “Things are really going great.”  
The king of the goblins gave a little smirk then strolled over to gander out his bedroom window.  
“Then you are enjoying your wish?” he asked.  
‘Isn’t that what I just said?’ Toby thought to himself. “Yeah.” He answered hedgingly.  
“And this girl,” he added, prompting himself by snapping his gloved fingers, “this Angie, is worthy of your affections?” He turned to give Toby a meaningful glance.  
Toby stiffed at his mention of her name. He had never given it to the Goblin King and he knew his naming her was meant as a cloaked threat. It set Toby on edge.  
“Yes.” he told him, his mouth going dry.  
“Excellent!” Jareth exclaimed, clapping his hands together in delight. He turned and walked back to stand before Toby again. “I am always so pleased when a wish turns out the way the wisher wants it to! You know, it doesn’t always end up that way.” Another veiled threat.  
The teenaged male stood perfectly still as his unearthly counterpart was speaking to him, his mind racing with possibilities of what could happen. He knew what the Goblin King was alluding to and that he was more than capable to make those things happen. Whatever he wanted for payment, he must really want bad.  
Pushing his misgivings to the back of his mind, Toby tried to make an attempt to settle his account.  
“Yeah, the wish is going just great. Great.” he repeated himself. “Um, just what is it that you would like in return?”  
Those fearsome teeth came out as Jareth gave him one of his trademark smiles, reminding Toby of the last time he saw them while Jareth was choking the life out of him, or when he had that nightmare back when Heather was killed.   
Bringing his hands up while he shrugged, he asked “What do you have to offer?”  
Toby almost groaned out of frustration. What the hell was it with him and bartering? Couldn’t he just name a price and Toby could pay it? ‘Okay, okay,’ he thought, ‘what do you got to offer?’. He looked around his room for anything of value.  
“My pap gave me some really rare coins.” he offered. “I mean really old. Some are almost two-hundred years old.” Jareth snickered at his definition of old. “You’re welcome to ‘em if you want them.”  
The Goblin King looked unimpressed. “I have told you before I have no interest in your currency.”  
‘Okay,’ he thought, ‘let’s see if he’s into jewelry’.  
“Do you like rings?” he tried again. Jareth raised an eyebrow in what Toby hoped was a promising sign. “I have a really nice class ring.” Then he remembered he gave it to Angie when they started dating. “I mean, I can get it for you if you want it. It’s really fancy, it’s made of gold and has a diamond in it and everything.”  
Jareth shook his head with a disappointed smile.  
“Young Tobias, I am a king, what use do I have for another baubled trinket?”  
“Well do you see any stuffed animals lying around that you might like?” he blurted out franticly. The king just gave him a patient smile. Toby was getting desperate. He finally realized he had to offer up the best he had.”  
“Do you want my Nova?” he proposed in a low voice. Figuring Jareth would have no idea what a car was, he went on to explain. “It’s an automobile that you ride in that takes you from place to place-”  
“Whatever would I do with an automobile?” he interjected. “There is nothing that you offered that I have a desire for!” He turned from the teenager and strolled to the window again.  
‘Well that’s it.’ he thought. That was the last thing of any value he had to offer. Toby never considered what would happen if he and the Goblin King couldn’t reach an agreement. Would he take back his wish? The thought of it literally made him sick to his stomach. He couldn’t let him take back his wish. He just had to find something he wanted!  
“But,” the Goblin King added as he turned back to the boy and raised his gloved hand to point at him, “there is something you may attain for me that would settle your debt.”  
New hope leapt into his heart.  
“What is it?” he asked anxiously. “You name it and I’ll get if for you. I don’t care if I have to rob someone to get it!”  
Jareth chuckled warmly at Toby’s proposal.   
“I do not believe that will be necessary. But I do appreciate your enthusiasm.”  
The Goblin King returned to stand closer to Toby. He could see greed in Jareth’s eyes and braced himself for whatever he was about to suggest.  
“No, what I want is not something you can simply steal.” He told the boy. “What I want is what you have. I want a mate of my own.”  
Toby stared at him confused. Jareth’s grin widened and his eyes nearly glowed with hunger.   
“What I want is Sarah.”


	7. Chapter 7

PART 1  
.  
.  
Toby stared dumbly at the Goblin King’s request, believing he couldn’t possibly have heard him right. Sarah? What did Sarah have to do with any of this?  
“You want my sister?” he asked stupidly.  
The king of the goblins said nothing just stared at Toby with a wicked grin on his face. What did he want with Sarah? Jareth’s words rang through his head: “I want what you have. I want a mate of my own.” Realization suddenly reared up in Toby. He wanted her for his mate. That was how he put it. A mate. Just as if he were talking about breeding dogs. Revulsion swept over him at the thought of handing his sister over to this being, like some sort of pimp. It wasn’t even up for consideration.  
“No.” he said with finality. “Not my sister. Name anything else.”  
The Goblin King laughed, an empty, ugly sound. He clasped his hands together in front of him and began to circle Toby, to slither around him.   
“Come, come young Toby!” he scoffed. “You’ve had your wish now your payment has come due! Be thankful I did not ask for your servitude or your first born or precious years off your life!”  
Toby shivered. All his other options sounded equally horrible to him but there was no way he could hand his sister over to this monster.  
“You can’t have her.” he told him  
Jareth sighed and shook his head as if in great disappointment.   
“I do not believe you appreciate the repercussions of the situation, Master Tobias.” He lamented. He passed out of Toby’s sight again only to appear over his shoulder by his ear whispering, like the serpent of Eden. “Do you really think you could have earned those scholarships on your own without my intervention? Or your parents’ union, how long do you believe it would have lasted without my assistance? I even eliminated your mother’s rival for you, and this is the thanks I get?” Toby winced at his words. But he wasn’t done yet. “Such a pity. You wouldn’t have the strumpet’s death be for naught now would you?” He withdrew his face away from Toby’s right ear in favor of his left.  
“And what of your latest wish?” he hummed in his ear. “This poor girl you had me ensnare so you could steal her away from your friend.” he rolled the word over his tongue as if it were foreign to him. “Do you care to wager how long it will be once I remove my favors until she returns to her first love and curses your name?”  
His words grieved Toby to hear them. He didn’t like being confronted with his past deeds, but what could he do? He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his wishes but he couldn’t trade his sister like a toy on the playground.  
“I can’t do it!” he wailed in desperation, willing the Goblin King to understand and spare him. “Don’t you get it? I just can’t hand my sister, my only sister, over to someone she doesn’t even know!”  
Jareth stepped back from the anguished teenager. Toby remained staunchly still, afraid to turn and face the man behind him.   
“Who said she does not know me?”  
His words shocked Toby to his core. He spun around to stare wide eyed at the king of the goblins. Jareth regarded him coolly, his smug grin wider than before.   
“How does she know you?” Toby wanted to know.  
“Come now, do you truly remember nothing?” his words were low and mocking. “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered…etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Does none of that ring a bell?”  
It did ring a bell to Toby, though he couldn’t immediately place the memory. He searched his psyche for that specific phrase. It brought him back to his childhood, when he was about four or five, his sister sneaking into his room when he was supposed to be asleep. She would cuddle up beside him and tell him his favorite story about the princess who had to save the little prince from an evil king who lived in a giant maze…  
“It was you.” he realized. “You were the evil king!” A brief flash of another recollection passed before his mind’s eye, there was singing and dozens of hideous little creatures. But it was gone before it could become a fully developed memory.   
Jareth smirked sardonically. “Guilty as charged.” He admitted gleefully. “I am the Goblin King of sweet Sarah’s tales. Evil king, child thief, seducer of innocents, all true I’m afraid. We must all live up to what is expected of us. A rather villainous existence I suppose, but on some days, one does enjoy one’s nefarious duties.”  
“So everything she told me was true.” He murmured to himself more than to the Goblin King. “Why didn’t she just tell me the truth?”  
A sly expression slipped easily onto Jareth’s face. “She kept it secret from you to protect you from me.” Toby could hear the malicious delight in his explanation. “She sought to keep me away from you, but you found your way to me nonetheless!”   
Toby couldn’t believe what he was hearing! That all the stories his sister told him about goblins and dwarves were true! There was and evil king and he was standing in his room at that very minute demanding payment for a wish. If that were true, then the part about a princess would also have to be true. It clicked into place like a cogs in a clock. Sarah was the princess and that would make him the prince that was stolen away by the wicked king. The picture in his mind became clearer as more pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Jareth had stolen him when he was just a baby and Sarah had to run his maze to save him. And now, he was back, demanding his pound of flesh.  
Toby gazed around his room, looking for an object he could defend himself with. Lying off in the far corner by his closet door were his free weights. There were his dumbbells which had weights on each of them that would do him little good unless he got up close to the evil man and there was no way he wanted that. This guy was strong and fast and he had no doubt if Jareth got his hands on him he could snap his neck like a twig. But his curl bar was empty making it a perfect weapon to keep the Goblin King at bay should he attack. Without a moment to lose, Toby made a break for it.  
The boy scooped up the weight bar and brandished it before him like a mythical sword. Jareth made no move towards him. He looked amused, not threatened at all. Feeling the weight of the steel bar in his hands gave Toby a surge of confidence.  
“Get out.” He commanded with what he hoped to be a composed and intimidating voice.  
Now the Goblin King really did look entertained. He cocked his head to the side and gave the boy an enigmatic smile.  
“So young and yet so rude!” he mocked with ridicule. “Tut, tut. Still, despite your lapse in manners, I believe I will be staying.”   
Toby didn’t anticipate that reaction and it left the teenager in doubt about his opponent. The king’s apparent lack of concern for Toby’s weapon made him nervous but he was determined to stand up for himself and his sister.  
“If you think I’m going to hand my sister over to you so you can have your sick sexual revenge, you got another think coming!” he spat out at the Goblin King.  
His smile melted away as if his face had been splashed with hot water. Jareth stared at the boy with deadly seriousness. His body began to tremble, though Toby was positive it wasn’t fear that stimulated the reaction. He started to glow from head to foot and for a small instance, the teenaged boy thought that maybe he was leaving. That hope was quickly dashed when the Goblin King spoke.  
“How dare you?” he hissed at the frightened boy, so low Toby wasn’t sure he said anything. “To presume to know my intentions towards your sister! To imagine you can deny me from collecting what is rightfully due me with mere force! I should crush you like a bug!” During his outburst the Goblin King advanced towards Toby, his voice growing louder and louder with each step. The teenager thought the walls might rattle from the volume and surely his parents would have had to hear the commotion. But nobody came and Toby was alone to face this menace by himself.  
Jareth’s outburst effectively backed the scared teen up against the wall with himself between the boy and the door. Toby glanced at the door desperately, gauging the distance. The Goblin King followed his gaze then returned his feral eyes back to Toby. He bared his teeth in an evil smirk.  
“I would be upon you before you took three steps.” He promised the boy.  
Toby was trapped. He knew it and the Goblin King knew it. His weapon would be little hindrance to his powerful foe should he decide to assail him. All he could do was pray and wait for Jareth’s next move.  
Much to Toby’s surprise and relief, the dangerous king seemed to calm himself to the point where he was no longer glowing nor trembling. He reigned in his anger and his sharp features relaxed, a little. Taking a few steps back, in order to ease the boy, he spoke again, this time less chillingly.  
“Do not assume to project your insignificant misinterpretations upon me again.” He warned.  
Sensing the danger level drop, Toby ventured a question.  
“Then what do you want Sarah for anyway?”  
At the mention of her name Toby could see the wistfulness in his eyes and his face softened. For a moment he seemed to struggle with his memories.   
“Your sister came to me when she was but a few years younger than you are now.” He reminisced. “But even then I could see how….extraordinary a young woman she was.” He smiled at the memory. “I thought perhaps I could persuade her to stay with me.” Toby could hear his voice harden and turn bitter. “But alas, I was mistaken.”  
“What happened?” he asked before he could stop himself. Jareth looked sharply at him.  
“She spurned me.” he said with a choppy laugh. “Me! Jareth, the Goblin King, Ruler of the Labyrinth! She banished me from her presence with her mere words!” He turned away from the boy and strode towards his desk. His eyes lighted upon the keychain Sarah gave Toby that day. He gently picked it up and caressed it in his hand as he stared at it. The teen boy could see the longing in his face.  
“I would have set her above all others.” He vowed as he gazed tenderly at her image. “Her life would have been one of splendor and nobility! I would have given her dreams to her, bent to her every whim. I would have made her my queen.” His hand tightened around the keychain reflexively. Jareth brought his gloved hand to his lips and closed his eyes in torment.  
Toby stood in awe at the Goblin King’s revelation. He had no idea that the king of the goblins could fall in love let alone be in love with his sister! Along with his shock was an equal amount of pity. His story struck a particular nerve with Toby. After all, it wasn’t very long ago he was struggling with unrequited love and the disappointment of possibly never acquiring it. He certainly could have sympathy for the distraught man before him now.   
“I’m….sorry.” was all Toby could say. He felt he should say something more but no other words came to him.   
Jareth’s eyes snapped open, as if suddenly remembering he wasn’t alone in the room. He turned his head and fixed his sight upon the boy. Toby felt uncomfortable under his intense stare. A fire lit in the Goblin King’s eyes and his lips curled back in a lunatic grin.  
“But that’s where you come in Young Tobias.” He cajoled. He took a few steps closer to the bewildered teen. “You could win the sweet Sarah for me.”  
Toby’s mouth dropped open as he shook his head in the negative. There was no way he was going to do….whatever Jareth wanted him to do to ‘win’ his sister over. No way. But how could he tell that to him without him blowing up all over again?  
The boy gulped. “I don’t know how you think I can help you but whatever it is, I can’t do it.” he assured the king. Not wanting to offend Jareth he hastily added on as an alternative offer: “I mean maybe I could talk to her for you or something like that. You know tell her how you feel about her and all.”   
The Goblin King however was not to be dissuaded and quickly turned to another line of reasoning.  
“Ah, but therein is the dose that makes the poison!” he reasoned. “She sees me only as the villain she cast me as in her younger years! As an antagonist, meant to be vanquished. She is blinded by her perception of me and cannot see me beyond that. She would not accept another alternate.”  
Toby couldn’t help but understand Jareth’s logic. While Sarah was a kind, attentive and loving sister, there were also equal amounts of stubbornness and disparagement in her as well. When she made her mind up about someone or something, it would take nothing less than a force of nature to change her opinion.  
Jareth could see that his words were swaying the boy’s resolve and upped the stakes a little more.  
“Besides,” he proceeded, “It would also reveal your acquaintanceship with me. Would you really want to explain your dealings with me to your sister?”  
His words sparked a dread in Toby. He reflected back on his wishes: Todd breaking his leg so he could be quarterback, his wish about his parents that got Heather Blair murdered and now his present situation with Angie which could be seen as tampering with free will. It felt like a harsh light was being shined on his soul. No he didn’t want to explain to Sarah his hand in those matters. But what the Goblin King was asking for was the impossible.  
“No, I wouldn’t.” he agreed with the king. “But I don’t know what else I can do.”  
A shrewd grin graced Jareth’s lips. “I do.”  
With a quick twist of his wrist, Jareth began to pull the surrounding light into his hand. The brightness grew in his hand as more beams of light joined in, illuminating his pale face and dark features. The gathering radiance glowed in his palm then began to cool and take form. As the light dimmed, Toby could see a velvet box of the deepest red nestled in the Goblin King’s hand. It was very ornate, trimmed in what Toby’s eyes could only assume was very decorative silver, and held closed with a medieval looking clasp. Jareth floated the parcel towards Toby.   
Toby was hesitant to take the pro-offered box but then saw the expectant look on Jareth’s face. He reached out to accept the Goblin King’s offering. As soon as the elegant velvet box lighted in his hand, its lid hinged open with a faint sigh revealing the treasure at its center.   
Inside, resting within more soft folds of velvet was a stunning silver bracelet. An intricate vine pattern swirled to make a graceful silver cuff, with a delicate chain to anchor it to the wearer’s wrist. Set in the middle of the bracelet was a stunning milky white opal which mirrored back faint hues of blue, green, pink and gold when the light hit it just right. It was easily the most beautiful piece of jewelry Toby had ever seen.  
“What’s this for?” he asked.  
“It’s a gift,” Jareth’s grin had a subtle hint of immorality in it. “A token of my affection for her. You give that to her and your debt to me will be paid. Only I think it best for the both of us if you not mention whom you received it from.”  
It seemed too easy for Toby. Knowing the Goblin King, there was some sort of catch. There had to be something he wasn’t telling him.  
“What’ll it do?” he asked cautiously.  
At his question, Jareth’s teeth flashed in a smile that always made Toby a little queasy.  
“Now, why the brotherly concern?” he beguiled. “Surely you’re not worried over a harmless little trinket are you?”  
“But it’s not just a harmless little trinket is it?” Toby’s suspicion hung in the air.  
Jareth’s mouth thinned and he raised his eyebrows with the boy’s statement. He nodded his head to the side as if impressed.  
“Your instincts do you credit. It is not just a harmless trinket. Very good young master Toby.” Jareth’s flattery fell on wary ears. “Indeed, there is something more to it. There’s just a touch of….persuasion in it, to help her see what I am offering.”  
“And just what is it you’re offering my sister?” Toby persisted.   
The Goblin King gave the doubting boy his most winning smile and spread his arms widely. “Why, anything! Everything! Whatever is within my power to bestow! The Goblin King’s heart is no trivial thing. It only beats once in an eon and it beats for your sister. Give that to Sarah, and all her heart’s desires can be within her grasp!”   
Toby looked at the bracelet curiously. Jareth spoke very convincingly and seemed sincere, but something in the manner he wanted him to give it to Sarah wasn’t quite right. It felt underhanded.   
“I don’t know, it seems awfully sneaky to me.” he faltered.  
The Labyrinth’s ruler could sense the boy wavering and pressed his suit harder.  
“Doesn’t your sister deserve to have what you and your beloved share?” he enticed. “Doesn’t she deserve a life she has only ever dreamed of? I can give that to her. Think about it,” his words seeped into Toby’s brain like water permeating a dry sponge. “Do you know why your sister has never found a mate in this abysmal world? It is because we are meant for each other. I am her second half, the missing piece of her soul. No other will do. In her heart, she knows this to be true. She just needs it to be brought into the light for her.”  
Jareth’s voice filtered deftly though his ears and weaved itself throughout his mind. He felt entranced by his words. The more Toby listened to the Goblin King, the more he found what he was saying to him made sense. Sarah did deserve the best and this guy could definitely give it to her. If everything Jareth had said was true, and Toby had no doubt after his passionate plea, he would practically worship his sister and she could live the fairytale she always wanted. And what harm is there in giving her the bracelet? It’s not like it’s an engagement ring. From the way Jareth describes it, all it’ll do is open her eyes to the way he feels about her. And once he gives it to her, his slate will be wiped clean. He can go about his life and put this whole sordid business behind him. Why shouldn’t he give it to her?  
“All I have to do is give it to her, right?” Toby clarified.  
The right side of Jareth’s mouth lifted in a half smile.   
“That’s all you need to do.” He confirmed. “As soon as it’s on her wrist, your debt shall be settled.”  
“And it’s not going to hurt her?” he pursued.   
The ruler of the Labyrinth waved his hand, dismissing the idea.  
“Perish the thought.”  
“And it won’t….cast a spell on her that will make her fall for you will it?”  
Jareth’s eyes narrowed sharply. “No.” was his short reply.  
“And what I mean by that is-”  
“I know perfectly well what you meant by that!” he snapped at the boy. “No, it will not.”  
Toby deliberated on the proposal. He felt he covered all the bases. If all he was asking him to do was give her a piece of jewelry, and that seemed to be all he was asking, then he could do that. After all, if it wouldn’t hurt her or force her to fall in love with him, then what’s the danger? From what he could tell, Jareth genuinely was in love with Sarah and only wanted a chance to redeem himself. And afterwards, Toby’s debt would be paid and he would never have to deal with the Goblin King again. That thought alone brought him the more relief and delight than he thought was possible.   
“Okay,” Toby grudged, “You got a deal. Only, you got to give me some time to work on this. I don’t see Sarah everyday, so I’m not exactly sure when I’ll get it to her.”   
“Certainly.” the Goblin King happily agreed. In fact, he looked happier than Toby ever remembered seeing him. “But I would ask you to complete your part of the bargain before much time lapses. Without payment, the magic of your wish may weaken.”  
Toby needed no prompting from him. The sooner he gave Sarah that stupid bracelet, the sooner Jareth would be out of his life and the sooner he could move on. He’d see his sister in a couple of weeks anyhow. She usually stopped by every other week or so and he could give it to her then, Christmas at the latest. And boy did he have some questions for her when he saw her next! Number one being, why she never told him that her stories were true and number two how she ever got tangled up with Jareth in the first place. Then he realized, he needn’t wait until he saw his sister to get the answer to some of his questions. He had someone who was privy to the whole thing right there with him!  
Toby looked to the Goblin King who was making ready for his departure. He debated with himself in his mind: should I or shouldn’t I? Seeing this might be the last chance he got he decided to go for it.   
He cleared his throat noisily. Jareth caught his cue and paused from what he was doing to look at the boy. He said nothing, just gave him a patient look.  
“Um, there was something I was wanting to ask you.” he began. This was going to be awkward, he thought. He wasn’t even sure how he should go about asking him his question! But Jareth waited for Toby to spit out whatever it was he wanted to say with forbearance. Finally, Toby plucked up enough nerve to ask him straight out.  
“Why did you take me?’  
The Goblin King’s eyes glinted wickedly for an instant, then it passed. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards slightly as if he were recalling a private joke. He stayed like that for a few moments (in fact Toby was starting to think he wouldn’t answer him at all) and then spoke almost parentally to the teenager.   
“That tale, my dear boy, is your sister’s to tell.” He said simply. He then reached into the folds of his cloak to retrieve something. When he withdrew his hand, Toby could see it held a small red book, not much bigger than a deck of large playing cards. “But I believe this might answer some of your questions for you.” Saying that, he tossed the book towards Toby. With that, Jareth, the Goblin King, Ruler of the Labyrinth, was gone in a shower of glitter.  
Toby examined the book that was in his hand. It was old and its color was fading. The spine was well worn and its pages were starting to show signs of wear. He flipped through the pages and found no pictures, no author’s name, no publisher’s mark or copyright dates on either the front pages or cover of the book. Indeed, there was only one word written across its faded red cover:  
Labyrinth


	8. Chapter 8

PART 1  
.  
There's an old proverb that says 'Hell is filled with good meanings, but heaven is filled with good works.' You may be more familiar with the abbreviated version - 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' I believe the latter best refers to Toby.  
Now I wouldn’t want anyone reading this to think him a horrible person, willing to sacrifice his sister for his own selfish desires. To Toby, nothing could be further from the truth! In fact, he deeply loved his sister and truly believed no harm would befall her due to his actions. Indeed, he thought the whole situation would work out for the best for all involved: he would be able to keep his third wish and Jareth could finally proclaim his love for Sarah. Sarah, for her part, would have the choice of either accepting or rejecting his affections. Toby even managed to quiet the spectre of doubt in the back of his mind, convincing himself it was the product of nerves rather than some darker suspicion.  
But sometimes, our most desperate desires have a way of clouding even the most rational of minds. It often has a way of blinding us to dangers we would ordinarily steer clear of. Not that I would suggest Toby as being the most rational, just that he wouldn’t intentionally put someone in harm’s reach.  
So try not to judge our young hero too harshly. If he had even the smallest inkling of what was to come I have no doubt that he would never have taken the bracelet to begin with. But Toby had accepted the bracelet and the small red book that Jareth had given him and it set into action a course of unavoidable events.  
Toby put the fancy velvet box containing the bracelet away in one of his desk drawers. It really was of no consequence to him at the moment and truth be told, he didn’t care much for touching it. Besides, he had something far more intriguing at the moment. It was a little red book that had piqued his interest.  
Toby turned the book over in his hand. It really was an unremarkable thing, old and worn and faded as it was. Yet something about the book seemed to entice him, lure him in as if answering to a siren’s call. Or perhaps it was that Jareth told him it would answer some of the mysteries surrounding the adventure he and Sarah apparently shared so long ago. Whatever it was, Toby couldn’t resist flinging himself onto his bed and spent the rest of his Thanksgiving engrossed with the book.  
Toby read the volume non-stop, cover to cover, in the span of several hours. It wasn’t until around midnight that he finished the tale and laid it to rest beside him on the bed. The house was still, all of the other inhabitants having gone to bed hours ago, leaving Toby awake and in complete silence to ponder what he had just read.  
While he found many parts of the book to be as Sarah had described them (though in certain areas she may have embellished a little), he also found blaring discrepancies between the book and her telling. The largest and worst by far was that the heroine wished the child away to the goblins and not that the Goblin King stole him away. This, above all else, set Toby’s teeth on edge. The thought that Sarah could have cast him to the wolves (or goblins as the case may be) was unnerving to say the least. Never mind that she immediately regretted it and set out to correct the situation, she wanted him gone.  
Toby felt a dull ache in his heart at the thought that his sister, the person he trusted and looked up to above all others, could have thrown him away as if he were a piece of trash. He felt a pang in his chest, hollow and gaping, that he numbly realized was sorrow. Sarah hadn’t wanted him. Sarah had wanted him gone.  
He tried to be angry. He wanted to rage and detest her for desiring him to be carried away by goblins. He wanted to be resentful towards her for being so spiteful as to wish him away to a person like the Goblin King when he was at such a tender age and powerless to do anything. But the only emotion he could summon was disappointment at the revelation of this enormous flaw in her character. That and a type of mourning for the kind, wonderful sister he had always taken Sarah to be.  
Toby pushed those thoughts from his mind. Though his feelings on the matter were still strong and quite raw, they served no useful purpose at the moment and only depressed him. Besides, exactly how much of the book was accurate remained for Sarah to confirm or deny (and he fervently hoped she would deny).  
Instead, he decided to concentrate on two particular encounters the heroine had with Jareth. One was when she danced with him in the crystal ballroom, and the other, which was even more alarming than the first, was their final confrontation at the castle. Sarah never mentioned these encounters when she used to tell him their nighttime story. In fact, she never mentioned anything in her story even remotely romantic. However, here it was practically jumping off the page at him. They were dancing and bantering and flirting with one another. Jareth’s sensual innuendos were understandable to the young woman (Sarah) and she responded to them. She was even receptive to them. Up until the very end, he could see the draw the two of them had for one another. Even their last encounter was hormonally charged, with Jareth offering his heart and soul and the heroine (Sarah) teetering on the edge of a very critical decision.  
Nevertheless, at the last moment she managed to say her right words and save the boy from life as a filthy goblin. From his point of view, it was the right choice but Toby wondered to himself how difficult it was for her to make that decision.  
He lay in his bed for a while, chasing his thoughts back and forth until he finally drifted off to sleep. His dreams offered him no solitude either. They were filled with images of Jareth’s grinning face as he sang to him. These were things that weren’t so much read about but remembered. They were carefully tucked away in his psyche and now surfaced in his dreams. He could remember being carried off by several grimy hands to a very dingy room filled with dancing… things and chickens everywhere. He could almost feel the swirl of movement as Jareth picked him up and pitched him into the air. The feeling of plummeting to the earth and being overwhelmed by rough arms that caught him before he dashed his head upon the stone floor. An odd sense of vertigo accompanied a memory of him crawling upside down (on the ceiling?) and his sister calling out to him in pursuit.  
Sometime during the early hours of Friday morning, long before the light of dawn breached the horizon, Toby woke with a start. Something had awakened him from his disturbed sleep. He lay in bed wide eyed and listened. All was silent inside the house. He thought that maybe he had imagined it.  
After several more minutes of listening, he relaxed and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. His mind immediately picked up where it had left off before he fell asleep, running through the scenarios in the book and trying to interpret Sarah’s behavior. After the dreams he was having, he had no doubt that the occurrences in the book were true accounts of their venture when he was a baby. He would have no rest until he talked to his sister about it and was resolved to ask her about everything. The only thing left to deliberate was how he would bring up the topic to Sarah without giving away his relationship with Jareth.  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.

Toby awoke Friday afternoon even more tired than when he had fallen asleep. He rolled out of bed and looked at the clock- 1:23 pm. He had slept the whole morning away! His stomach grumbled at him for missing breakfast, and he resolved to remedy the situation immediately. He slipped out of his clothing from the day before and pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Then he sped downstairs to scrounge up something to appease the beast growling in his stomach.  
His mother was in the kitchen wiping down the counter after what had must have been their lunch. She turned to look at her son as he entered the room. Her eyebrows raised up a few degrees after looking at the time on the microwave.  
“Good afternoon, sleepy head,” she greeted him. “And what had you sleeping in so late today?”  
Toby vigorously scratched at the back of his head trying to work the last of his drowsiness off. “Nothing,” he lied. “Just had a long day yesterday is all.”  
His mother hmm’ed in agreement and brought a plate of leftovers out of the fridge for him. It was filled with what was left of the turkey (now only dark meat, Toby preferred white), some stuffing, a smattering of potatoes and gravy, and some corn. At the sight of the plate, his gut began to twist in anticipation. His mom popped it in the microwave for a few minutes and before long, he was sitting at the table shoveling food in his mouth.  
“So what kind of plans do you have for today?” his mother asked.  
Toby gulped down the mouthful of food he was chewing on before answering. “Nothing much.” His mind wandered to the book he had upstairs. “I was thinking about giving Sarah a call and seeing if she minded me stopping over sometime this weekend.”  
“That would be nice,” she told him absently. She switched topics on him. “We seemed to have had some visitors in the garbage last night. Raccoons or something. I went out to throw some scraps in the trash just now and the cans were knocked over and garbage was scattered all over the place. Since you don’t have anything else planned for this afternoon,” Toby could hear the pre-emptive build up to manual labor, “why don’t you rake up that mess for me, honey?”  
Toby groaned inwardly but said nothing to contradict his mom. When he was finished with his plate, he rinsed it and left it in the sink. He grabbed his sweatshirt hanging by the door and headed out for garbage duty.  
The day after Thanksgiving was sunny but held a chill to it, preparing for the oncoming winter. The trees were almost completely bare, save the one oak tree in the far back of the property, which, though the leaves were brown, seemed full. Toby inhaled the air deeply. He always loved this time of year, what with the cool weather, the scent of fallen leaves, the holidays coming up. It always left him in a cheery and content mood.  
He made a quick stop in the garage to get a pair of work gloves and a yard rake. As he stepped out into the afternoon sun again, he began to whistle as he headed out back to take care of his task. However, when he turned the corner where the trashcans where harbored, the tune he was whistling died on his lips.  
His mother’s explanation of the mess in no way prepared him for what actually awaited him. It was a little more than ‘knocked over’ cans and ‘scattered’ trash. It look liked somebody tossed a couple of M-80’s into them! The cans weren’t just knocked over, they looked like they were drug across a minefield and the trash was littered about in a fifty foot radius. Toby thought he felt a blood vessel burst behind his right eye when he saw the mess.  
Cursing whatever neighborhood varmint caused this mayhem, Toby bent over to set the cans on their bases. When he righted the first one he could see the Rubbermaid trashcan had several dents in the plastic. Whatever wanted in this can had meant business. Though the first can was fairly abused, it was the second can that gave him pause. It was banged up pretty badly as well but on the side of it were long, deep gashes.  
Toby crouched down to get a closer look at the damage. There, going diagonally across the trashcan, were four parallel cuts. He stared at them, perplexed, until he realized what they were. They weren’t cuts, they were scratches. Toby placed his four fingers along each of the groves. This definitely wasn’t the work of raccoons. This was something bigger, stronger… meaner. Though there weren’t any sightings of them, sometimes bears would scavenge the neighborhood this time of year, looking to fatten up for their long hibernation. Maybe their house was hit by a rogue bear?  
Leaning his rake along the side of the building, he went on the hunt for the missing lids. The first one was easily found, out in the lawn some thirty feet away but the other one was no where to be seen. Toby scoured the whole yard looking for the blue lid, even around front, but there was no sign of the lost trashcan lid. It was only by chance he found it when he chased off a crow that was picking through the rubble. It landed on the roof of the garage to caw indignantly at him. There it was; the missing lid. It had been tossed up on the garage roof. Toby stared at it with disbelief. What the hell would have done that?  
He used his rake to reach up and pulled the lid down off the roof. When the plastic disc tumbled to the ground, Toby made another shocking discovery. There were chunks missing out of it. With closer inspection, he could see what appeared to be bites on its outer rim. He looked closer thinking it couldn’t possibly be teeth marks. However, Toby could make out the clear outline of incisors, an ungodly amount of canines, and even a molar or two. He was baffled. What kind of animal would take bites out of a garbage can lid then throws it up on a roof? Even bears didn’t cause damage like that. The battered trashcans, yeah. The scratches along the side, maybe. But a half chewed up trashcan lid on the roof? That would never happen.  
Toby tossed the mangled top next to the other. Looking at the garbage cans, he tried to come up with a plausible excuse for their condition. There had to be some logical explanation. Other than a bear, he couldn’t think of another animal that might have caused that much damage, unless it was someone trying to make it look like an animal did it. Maybe some kids from school snuck over last night and bashed up the cans and threw the garbage all over? Somebody who was pissed at him (like Shane) could have vandalized them, cut the one with a knife and tossed the lid on the roof to be funny. Perhaps that’s what happened. His rationalization seemed almost flawless.  
‘Yeah, but did Shane take those bites out of that lid?’ his little voice nagged.  
The bite marks were the only thing he couldn’t excuse. It was the one crack in his otherwise seamless reasoning. No matter what scenario he envisioned, he couldn’t explain away the chewed up lid on the roof.  
Toby tried to put the thought out of his mind while he raked up the garbage that was scattered about the yard. Whatever attacked the cans certainly made a colossal mess of things. Paper and food remnants were the majority of it. It looked as though the discarded food was the motivating factor of the raid. The garbage was picked over and most of the foodstuff was gone, likely devoured, which blew his theory of it being neighborhood pranksters out of the water. Whatever it was, it ate practically everything. It seemed nothing was too tough or noxious for its digestive system. It ate banana peels, coffee grounds, eggshells, turkey scraps (bones and all), spoiled lunchmeat, molded cheese, and it even took a bite out of the baking soda box his mom had kept in the fridge! It loved the stale snack cakes they tossed away a few days before. Wrappers were licked clean, cereal boxes torn apart to get to the leftover crumbs. However, it appeared that it did have an aversion to anything vegetable. The scrapings from the potatoes and ends of carrots, celery, and pea shells went untouched. The only vegetation that was molested was an overripe zucchini his mother had thrown away. He found that laying up against the side of the house with an obvious splatter on the siding about four feet above it and a telltale trail of pulp and seeds leading to the demolished squash.  
Luckily, most of the chaos was contained within the first few yards of the trashcans. Further out in the circumference, the rubbish was spread around more sparsely; an old scrap of newspaper here, an empty soup can there. Toby took a garbage bag around the lawn, collecting the bits and pieces that were left. Amidst the remaining debris, he found one of his old sneakers that he had gotten rid of because the sole was coming off. He picked up the shoe only to be surprised that it too had what looked like a bite taken out of it. A curious unease came over him at the sight of the mangled sneaker. For whatever reason, he didn’t like his old belongings being targeted. He couldn’t explain it, but it somehow made the attack on the trashcans more personal. He searched the rest of the yard for the sneaker’s mate, even in the hedges, searching longer than he might have otherwise, but he turned up empty-handed. Toby gave up his hunt in frustration. The missing shoe disturbed him more than he cared to admit.  
When he finished with his chore, he dragged the garbage cans into the garage to ensure that no other harm would befall the receptacles. He’d like to see whatever it was that brutalized them last night try to get them in here. He lifted the lid off the less beaten trashcan to throw his worn sneaker in then paused. For some inexplicable reason, Toby felt a superstitious apprehension about discarding the shoe again. Instead, he closed the lid and went back into the house, carrying the old sneaker back inside with him.  
Toby shed off his sweatshirt as soon as he stepped through the door from the garage into the utility room. He could hear someone bustling about in the kitchen and assumed his mother was the source of the noise.  
“Did you finish cleaning up back there?” his mom called out from the kitchen.  
“Yeah, Mom,” he replied. “I put the trashcans in the garage so nothing can mess with them again.” A slight pause. “But I don’t think it was raccoons. Not the way the cans were smashed around.”  
“Oh no?” He could hear the concern tinge her voice. “You don’t think it was a bear or something like that do you?”  
Toby recalled the gouges in the trashcan and its mauled lid. Then he stared down at the sneaker he still held in his hand.  
“Or something like that.”  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.

Toby called his sister later that evening. It was nearly seven o’clock when he finally picked up the phone and dialed her number. As the phone rang on the other end, he felt a creeping doubt begin to come over him. This wasn’t an everyday conversation like how things went at school or what happened at work. This was something a little more profound than that. What was he going to say? He couldn’t just come out and tell her ‘Oh, by the way, I was talking to Jareth the other night and I found out you wished me away to him when I was just a baby. What’s up with that?’ and expect her to spill her guts to him. Boy, he really couldn’t do that.  
The phone rang four times, then five, then six. He started to feel a twinge of relief. Sarah wasn’t home. He was just getting ready to hang up the phone after the seventh ring when someone picked up on the other end.  
“Hello?” he heard his sister say.  
Toby’s mouth suddenly went dry and it gaped open. He tried to will himself to speak but nothing would come out.  
“Helloooo?” Sarah repeated on the other end. Still no reply. After a brief pause, she spoke again. “Toby? Is that you?”  
His mouth snapped shut with her correct guess. Well, there was no turning back now.  
“Hey, sis.” His voice cracked just a little.  
“Toby! I thought that was you. How come you didn’t answer me the first time?”  
He had to think fast. “I didn’t hear you pick up.” It was a poor lie, but Sarah didn’t seem to notice.  
“Well I did,” she assured him. “For a second there I thought this was an obscene phone call.”  
Her statement brought a slight smile to his lips. He started to pant into the receiver and dropped his voice to a low rasp.  
“Hey, pretty lady, I know who you are and I know where you live -”  
“Oh knock it off you big dork,” she cut him off in the middle of his best stalker imitation. “If you had half a brain you’d be dangerous. Now why is it you called me, other than to harass me?”  
‘Play it cool,’ he told himself.  
“Oh nothing, just wondering if you felt like hanging out sometime this weekend is all.”  
Toby could hear her quick intake of breath on the other end. He figured after the little tiff they had over the last couple of weeks she would jump at the chance to spend some time with him. He wasn’t mistaken.  
“This weekend?” she asked almost excitedly. “I can’t tomorrow, I got a crap load of stuff I need to get done but I’m free on Sunday. How about then?”  
“That’ll be okay,” he said, nonchalantly.  
“Great!” she all but gushed. “So what do you want to do?”  
‘Burn your ass about a certain book I got,’ he thought.  
“Nothing much. Just hang out; maybe order a pizza or something. Talk.”  
“That sounds good to me!” she agreed. “I’ve got so much to fill you in on. Like what all’s been going on at work; they’ve been discussing doing a kid’s flick with me in it! I mean, it’s nothing definite but there’s been some positive talk about it. But I don’t want to bore you with all the details over the phone right now.”  
“Too late,” he droned at her.  
Sarah gave an irritated snort. “Ha, ha.”  
Toby felt relieved about being able to avoid the “talk” until Sunday. Even though he was very anxious to confront her about what he now knew, it wasn’t something that should be done over the phone. Besides, it gave him two days to think about how he was going to break it on her without giving away his association with Jareth.  
With that weight off his shoulders, Toby relaxed enough to have a more casual conversation with his sister.  
“So how’d that little soirée of yours go yesterday?” he snooped.  
Sarah let out an exhausted sigh. “Oh, same as usual. Girl meets boy, boy meets girl. Girl grows a second head, boy runs screaming from the room. You know same old, same old.”  
“Yeah, sprouting extra heads is a real deal breaker for guys,” he joked. Even though his sister made light of her dating situation (or lack of it), Toby couldn’t help but sense there was a sad loneliness behind it.  
“Hey Sarah, how come you never had any boyfriends?” he pried a little.  
“I have so had boyfriends!” she defended. “There was Troy Evans back in eighth grade, and I dated Jason Perryman my freshman year of college! I’ve gone on practically hundreds of dates! And don’t forget I’m in a serious relationship with my imaginary boyfriend Matt.”  
“Those were high school crushes and one night…”  
“If you say it, I will throttle you.”  
“…dates,” he finished carefully. He knew his sister didn’t ‘get around’ but couldn’t resist irking her over it. “The only one I ever remember you dating was that Jason guy. Whatever happened to him?”  
“I don’t know really,” she admitted. “Nobody does. One day he just quit showing up for classes. Nobody ever saw him again. The cops looked into it, but they couldn’t find any evidence of foul play. He just disappeared.”  
“Wow,” he breathed, “that must have been hard on you.”  
“Mmm… not really,” she admitted then quickly added, “I mean, I did like him and I was worried for him when he went missing, but we only dated for a couple weeks. It wasn’t very serious.”  
The siblings were quiet for a moment, neither one sure what to say next. Sarah broke the silence. “Well, he probably would have just dumped me anyway,” she said in a flimsy attempt to lighten the mood.  
Toby could feel the cheeriness draining from their conversation. He quickly tried to inject some much-needed humor back into it.  
“Oh definitely, once he got an earful from you about leaving glasses on your stupid coffee table without a coaster,” he kidded.  
Sarah let out a giggle. “I hate when people do that! It ruins the finish, you know.”  
“Oh, the precious finish!” Toby mocked. “You know, there’s therapy out there for people like you.”  
“What? People with little brothers who wouldn’t know how to use a coaster if you stapled it to their ass?”  
Toby was speechless. Sarah combined the perfect amount of sarcasm with bitchiness. He was impressed.  
“Ew, burn,” he conceded.  
“Thank you, I do try.”  
“Well enjoy it while you can, cause on Sunday, it’s your butt that’s gonna get burned!”  
“Bring it on, baby brother!” she challenged.  
Her brother got a wicked smile on his face. He planned to.

.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
Toby awoke on Saturday morning feeling rested and ready to take on the day. The scent of his mother’s homemade waffles was drifting through his room and tickling his taste buds. Sunshine was streaming though his window, promising to be a beautiful day. He could hear some of the winter birds chirping outside. It was such a fine day, he thought if he were to look outside he might actually see cute little forest animals dancing across his lawn. However, to Toby, there was only one reason why his mood was so cheery and this day was so wonderful.  
Angie was coming home.  
The thought put a broad grin on his face. It had been almost three days since he last saw her (in teen years that’s like six months) and the time apart left him itching to see her again. Their reunion wouldn’t be until later that afternoon sometime – it was a four-hour drive from her Aunt’s place and they wouldn’t be leaving until one or two – so Toby would be left to his own devices for much of the day, marking off time until he could be with his girlfriend again.  
After having a hearty breakfast with his parents, Toby and his dad headed off to the nearest home improvement center to pick up new bear proof trash receptacles. His father had seen the damage done to the garbage cans and came to the same conclusion that he had at first: a hungry bear trying to put on a little weight before winter settled in. Toby said nothing of his suspicions, not even really sure what they were himself, but just grunted to his dad in agreement.  
Once they were at the store, the Williams men wasted no time seeking out assistance from a clerk. While his dad liked to imagine himself a type of handyman, Roger Williams would have trouble hanging a picture on the wall. Growing up, Toby could still remember his dad’s disastrous home improvement projects. Like the time he tried to retile the kitchen. After spending two days and nearly gluing himself to the floor, his dad had managed to completely botch the project. There wasn’t a straight tile in the bunch but his dad proudly showed off his handiwork to him and his mother as if he had just redone the floor of the Siena Cathedral. Even at the age of seven, Toby could tell that was not how a floor was meant to look but his mother just smiled and complimented her husband on a job well done.  
However, the next day when he got off the bus from school, he saw a Calico Flooring truck pulling away from his house and the kitchen tiling was miraculously fixed. When he asked his mom who the people in the truck were, Karen Williams told her son she had no idea what he was talking about and went about the kitchen humming and getting him a sandwich ready.  
His dad explained to the store clerk the recent attack and the man immediately took them to their top of the line, bear retardant garbage cans. While his dad and the sales clerk (whom Toby discovered knew EVERYTHING about bears because he had once seen one at the zoo) discussed what kind of trashcan to get, Toby meandered among the rows trying to find something to hold his attention. He found that something when he wandered into the home décor section.  
There were boxes with do-it-yourself end tables, shelves, and desks, but what caught Toby’s notice was a long, slender box, no wider than twelve inches and only three feet long. It contained something called a hanging bookshelf. From the picture on the outside of the box, he could see what it looked like. It was made of cherry stained wood and was mounted to the wall by two gilded iron supports underneath. There was a small strip of matching cherry wood between the mounts, likely to help stabilize it, that had short pegs protruding at six-inch intervals. Toby could tell that these pegs were meant to hang things, as demonstrated on the box where it showed a cutesy ‘Home Sweet Home’ sign dangling from one.  
As soon as he saw it, he recognized it as the perfect Christmas present for Angie. She had literally oodles of books but nowhere to put them. She mostly kept them in a box under her bed or stacked up beside her nightstand. While it wouldn’t be able to hold all her books, it would give her a place to put them other than on the floor. He knew this would be something she would appreciate more than a pair of earrings or new shirt.  
Toby picked up the box and flipped it to the back to read the instructions. There was some assembly required but he felt confident that he could put it together without too much hassle. After all, he did make his mom a napkin holder in seventh grade woodshop. However, that was back quite a few years ago and he did have considerable help from his shop teacher. Throwing caution to the wind, Toby grabbed up the box and prayed to God that he didn’t inherit his dad’s carpentry skills.  
Once they got home, Toby took his purchase into the garage and set about to gather all the tools he would need. When he had everything he thought he needed, he opened the box and dumped all the pieces onto his father’s workbench and tossed the box to the ground. He unfolded the instructions, which conveniently came with pictures, and gave them the once over. It seemed exceedingly simple to him as he read screw (A) goes into hole (B) so he tossed the paper aside and dove into his project.  
As it turned out, it wasn’t quite as easy as the instructions led him to believe. He found out rather quickly not all screws were made the same when he used the shorter screws, meant to attach the mounts to the shelf, on the pegs, which made them wobble loosely. He corrected his mistake but then ran into another dilemma trying to attach the mounts to the shelf. It was a little more difficult than he thought trying to balance the mounts, as he had to thread the screw through the hole. He did manage to thread them just before his patience ran out and he was about to throw the damned contraption out the open garage door. Come noontime, he had made little progress with Angie’s present and was starting to let little swears slip. Toby decided he had no future in furniture assembly.  
He was so absorbed with his task that he didn’t hear the light footsteps that were sneaking up behind him. He was taken completely unaware when two slender hands reached around from behind and covered his eyes and he heard a throaty whisper say, “Guess who?”  
Toby whirled around on the intruder in terror only to be greeted with by the sight of the last person he expected to see. “Angie!” he managed to exclaim. His mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes were still wide from the fright she had just given him. She bore a mischievous smile on her face.  
“Miss me?”  
“Hey, ehm, what are you doing back so soon?” he asked once he calmed his nerves a bit. “I didn’t expect you back until later.”  
“We’ll mom and Aunt Rae Anne got into a HUGE argument last night and we lit out first thing this morning.”  
“Oh,” he said at her explanation. “How come I didn’t hear you pull in?” He looked past her into the driveway, trying to spy her Blazer.  
“I had my mom drop me off out front before we got home,” she said as she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his middle. She smiled widely. “I couldn’t wait to see you.”  
He got a broad grin of his own. “Is that right?”  
“Umm-hmmm,” she murmured as she stretched up to kiss him.  
Toby eagerly met her lips halfway and encircled her in his arms. Their kiss was rushed at first, each hungry for contact with the other but as the urgency subsided a bit, and it became gentler. Angie withdrew her arms from his middle in favor of draping them around his neck. He pulled her in closer until her body was flush against his. They could have stayed in this impassioned embrace all afternoon if not for a rather abrupt interruption.  
As the young couple was rejoicing in each other’s company, they heard the knob to the door between the house and the garage began to rattle. They quickly pushed apart in panicked haste right before the door flung open and his mother’s head poked out into the garage.  
“Toby, are you planning to come in for lunch?” she asked her son. She noticed his company with a little start. “Oh, Angie, I didn’t realize you were here. Would you care to have a bit of lunch with- are you alright sweetie?”  
Her question was directed towards her son’s girlfriend who she could see was noticeably flustered. Angie worked to still her nervous fluttering.  
“Oh, hi, Mrs. Williams,” she said, a deep blush settling on her cheeks. “I’m fine; I’m just a little tired from the ride back.” Toby looked at her with a half smile. She really sucked at lying.  
Karen must have seen through her excuse as well because she got a humored look of disbelief on her face. “Uh-huh,” she agreed. Looking at her son she added, “Well, why the two of you don’t come in for a bite before that poor girl passes out from exhaustion.” Toby snickered at his mother’s comment and Angie’s eyes darted to him dangerously.  
“Okay, Mom,” he concurred with a smirk only his girlfriend could see. “We’ll be in, in a little bit.” Karen Williams smiled innocently at the pair before returning into the house.  
As soon as his mom was out of sight, he busted out laughing. Angie could tell his laughter was at her expense.  
“And just what is so funny?” she snapped, glowering at him.  
“Oh, nothing,” he said stifling another giggle and wiping a tear from his eye. “Just the fact that my kissing you brought you to the brink of exhaustion!” He broke down laughing again.  
Angie was not amused. She just stood there with her arms folded across her chest, waiting for him to regain control of himself. “It’s not your kissing I find so exhausting, it’s you,” she griped. Toby just chortled at her statement and flashed a lopsided grin. She eventually relented and returned his smile.  
“So what were you up to before I scared the crap-olla out of you?” she asked innocently.  
That wiped the smile completely off his face. Her present! It was lying out in the open where she could see it! He backed up to the workbench trying to keep his project out of her sight.  
“Nothing,” he fibbed to her. “Just messing around. Tell me more about your visit at your aunt’s.”  
Angie eyed him suspiciously. She could tell his interest was a ploy to distract her and she didn’t fall for it.  
“It didn’t look like nothing,” she said, leaning to the side, trying to get a peek around him. Toby leaned with her, blocking her view. Her eyes scanned around and rested on the box by his feet. He quickly lashed out with his foot and kicked the box underneath his mother’s car. “Why so secretive?”  
“I’m not!” he objected. “I’m just curious about your trip.”  
Angie looked him over in doubt then just shrugged.  
“It was okay,” she told him. “Aunt Rae Anne lives out in the country on a sheep farm. It was kind of cool feeding the sheep and all. And it was really nice hanging out with my cousins for a couple of days.”  
She sided up next to Toby and tucked herself under his left arm as they headed in for lunch.  
“Well, it sounds as if you enjoyed yourself.”  
“I really did,” she confirmed. “I had a pretty fun time, except when I couldn’t sleep at night.”  
Toby got a cocky grin. “Pining away for me were you?”  
“No!” She slapped his abdomen playfully. “It wasn’t that! There was this stupid barn owl that would sit in the tree outside my window, hooting all night long.”  
.  
.  
PART 5  
.  
The rest of that Saturday Toby spent with Angie. After lunch, they hung out in the living room watching an Absolutely Fabulous marathon that was on one of the British channels. At first Toby moaned about having to watch a ‘chick show’ but after he saw the two besotted British ladies crash a funeral and one fall down, drunk, into the open grave, he began to warm up to the show a little more. Five hours, one bag of chips, and a six-pack of Dr. Pepper later, he was a confirmed fan. Not that he would brag to his football buddies about it though.  
Toby drove Angie home around six o’clock in time for supper. Ms. Bernard invited him to stay for dinner, which Toby replied he didn’t mind if he did. They had pork chops with garlic-buttered noodles, steamed baby carrots and asparagus. Even though her mom made the pork chops differently than his mom did, (his mom baked hers in the oven with cracked pepper and rosemary and Angie’s mom breaded hers and fried them) it was a delicious meal. All but the asparagus, which Toby discovered he wasn’t very fond of.  
After dinner, Mariah pestered the couple to play Uno with her. Mariah and Angie formed an alliance against Toby where they would only use the worst of their cards on him. He managed to break up the Bernard sister truce when he started using all his reverse cards on Angie, then dropping draw two’s on Mariah. It wasn’t long before the younger of the two was skipping her sister and giving her draw cards. Then it was every player for themselves and Toby’s winning stats began to rise. By the time they were done playing, Mariah had transformed from a lovable ten year old to a cutthroat card shark.  
The end of the evening found the sweethearts sitting on the front porch steps. Angie was snuggled into his side for extra warmth and Toby had his arm around her to protect her from the chilly night’s air.  
“So what are your plans for tomorrow?” she asked him.  
Toby remembered that the next day was Sunday and he had a lot of questions for Sarah.  
“I was planning on going over to my sister’s for the day.”  
“That sounds like fun. Care for some company?”  
He winced a little at her request. Ordinarily he wouldn’t mind taking Angie with him to visit Sarah but tomorrow was going to be a precarious day for him.  
“Un, actually, I was thinking about making this trip solo,” he explained. “Spend some quality time together, just the Williams kids.”  
He felt her turn her head to look up at him. He saw a tiny crinkle of disappointment etched in her brow. He smiled at her softly. “I promise I’ll take you along the next time.”  
His offer must have appeased her, for she tilted her head back and leaned up to give him a little kiss on the corner of his mouth. Toby turned his head to give her better access to his lips. However, before they could fully explore their new position, Angie’s mom turned on the porch light, the signal that it was time for her to come in and Toby to go home. Angie gave him another quick peck before she disappeared into the house.  
Toby got back home at just before eleven. His mom had gone to bed a while ago but his father was still up watching for the college scores on the late night news. The two exchanged a few good night pleasantries before Toby went up the stairs to bed.  
Sunday dawned cloudy, as if sensing the frame of mind the youngest of the Williams’ household was in. His mind was preoccupied with the book again and it was putting him in a state of fluctuation. On the one hand, he was angry and saddened with his sister for wishing him away to Jareth, but he decided to put that on the backburner for the time being. He still had plenty of unresolved issues with that one but decided he would let Sarah explain herself before he rushed to judgment.  
On the other hand, he was exceedingly curious about what was going on between her and Jareth. There seemed to be a lot of suggestive behavior between the two of them. Then there was the problem of how he could the topic up without arousing suspicion in his sister. So to say, Toby’s mind was muddled and cloudy would have been an accurate description.  
The morning passed uneventfully. His parents could tell their was something a little ‘off’ about their son but since no singularly distinctive emotion presented itself, they couldn’t decipher his mood. The teenager was preoccupied but that in itself was not grounds to raise concern, but his parents (particularly his mother) could sense something was working his mind.  
After lunch, Toby made a quick call to Sarah to let her know he was getting ready to come over. When he got off the phone with his sister, he went upstairs to grab his keys and varsity jacket. His jacket was hanging on the back of his chair and his keys, on their brand new keychain, were sitting on his desk. Right next to them was the little red book that had just recently brought him so much turmoil. He stuffed the book in his jacket pocket and headed for his car.  
During the drive over, it was as if Toby was on autopilot. He was completely lost in thought, so much so he almost blew through a red light. His potential oversight snapped him out of his self-induced trance for a bit, but after a while, his mind was wandering again. He was so deep in thought that before he knew it, he was pulling up to his sister’s place without a clue he was there already.  
Toby parked his car along the curb in front of her building and leaned across the front seat to lock the passenger’s side door. Once he got out of his Nova, he pushed down the lock on the driver’s side. After testing the handle, he headed up to see his sister.  
Sarah happily greeted her brother at the door and brought him in and made him comfortable. Her apartment hadn’t changed very much from the last time he was there. It was a loft apartment, the living room being the showcase of it. It was broad and spacious with large windows dominating the wall facing the street. On the right was a flight of steps that led to an open room at the top, which Sarah had made into her home office. On the left side of the room were an enclosed kitchen and a hallway which split into two bedrooms at the end. The bathroom was caddy corner to the guest bedroom.  
The first few hours, Sarah and Toby spent catching up with one another. Sarah by far had the most to tell her younger brother. There was indeed going to be a movie in the works for Miss Sarah’s Fairytale Cottage, in which Sarah would be playing the starring role. True, it was going straight to video, but that didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. Her excitement got Toby excited and before long, they were discussing what kind of roles she would be taking next and who she would prefer to star with, Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt. Sarah went through the pros and cons of each actor (Brad’s gorgeous smile and Johnny’s smoldering eyes were at the top) but in the end, Mr. Depp edged out Brad by just the slimmest of margins.  
When dinnertime rolled around Sarah insisted they order from some old world style pizzeria she knew. She ranted about how authentic the food was and how he just had to try the seafood risotto. Toby nodded his head, but when she called in to place their order, he told her he wanted a large pepperoni pizza with peppers and onions. His sister gave him a disdainful look but ordered the pizza.  
Before long, the pizza was there and they were dining on the couch while watching a movie. Toby was impressed with the food. It wasn’t Gino’s, but it wasn’t bad either. His kind of thought the sauce was a little runny…  
“So are you going to tell me why you’re here or am I going to have to drag it out of you?”  
Sarah’s words brought Toby quickly back to earth. He looked over at his sister. She was looking at him with a smug, knowing expression on her face. His first reaction was to deny.  
“What makes you think I have an ulterior motive?”  
Sarah snorted and took another bite of pizza. “Because I’m your big sister, that’s how.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “That and you didn’t bust my chops when I told you that the director’s name for my movie was Charles Weinerzetheim.”  
Charles Weinerzetheim? Chuck-Weiners-At-Him? How did he miss such a perfect set up? He must really be off his game.  
He still hadn’t come up with how he was going to bring the book up to Sarah, but now that she was on to him, he might as well let the cat out of the bag. Toby rose from the couch and retrieved the book from his jacket pocket. He handed it to Sarah as he sat down.  
She stared at the book with a mixture of alarm and disbelief printed upon her face.  
“Where did you get this?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.  
Until that moment, Toby had no answer to that question. “I found it when Mom had me cleaning out the attic.” Where had that come from? It had never occurred to him before but when he was put on the spot, it slipped readily from his lips.  
A look of consternation shadowed her face, “I thought I threw it away…”  
Toby reached out and grabbed her left hand, drawing Sarah’s attention to him. He looked her directly in the eyes when he spoke.  
“This is the story you told me when I was just little. I thought it was all make believe -”  
“It is all make believe,” she tried to convince him.  
“- but then I started remembering things,” he cut off her excuse. “Weird things. Trippy things. This isn’t just a story, is it?”  
Sarah’s mouth clamped shut and she looked down at her hands in her lap. She was wringing them nervously (“So that’s where I got it from!’ he thought) and bouncing her knee uncontrollably. He could tell she wasn’t comfortable sharing this with him.  
“Sarah.” His voice brought her eyes back to his face. They were worried and sad, and he felt his heart twist up a little on the inside. “Tell me what really happened.”  
Sarah looked at her brother with hesitation and uncertainty. This wasn’t something she wanted to revisit. However, there was something in his voice that told her she had to be honest with him. So, with a shuddering sigh, she told her brother everything.  
Toby sat quietly as she related her adventure from so long ago. He said nothing through it all, not even making so much as a peep when she confirmed that she did indeed wish him away. Nor did he interrupt her retelling of her dancing with Jareth at the ball. He just sat patiently, absorbing all she was saying. Even after she was done, he remained with a thoughtful expression on his face.  
“Toby?”  
He snapped out of his reverie. He focused his attention on his sister again. She was looking at him anxiously.  
“So it’s true then,” he said slowly. “You did give me away to this Goblin King.”  
Sarah looked down in shame. “Yes,” she mumbled miserably. “But I got you back!” she quickly amended.  
“But that doesn’t change the fact that you wanted me gone!” he snapped at her. Sarah flinched at his words. She tried to reach out for his hands but he pulled them away from her. At that moment, all the anger and pain he had been holding back for the last few days flooded up.  
“All these years, I thought you were such a saint,” he snarled, rising from the couch. “I always thought that no matter what happened I could always count on my big sister! Boy, what a fool I’ve been!”  
“You can count on me!” She stared up at her brother with wide green eyes. “I didn’t mean for that to happen to you! I was just a kid myself! I didn’t mean any of it! As soon as I found out what happened I rushed to get you back!”  
“You weren’t in too much of a rush that you couldn’t find time to dance with my abductor!” he shouted at her. Toby suddenly found that he couldn’t bear to be in the same room with her. He snatched up his jacket and began stalking towards the door.  
“Where are you going?” his sister called out shrilly behind him. He ignored her. “Toby, wait!”  
He heard her rushing up behind him. She caught up to him just as he was opening the door to leave. Her hand shot past him and slammed the door shut.  
Toby stood facing the door during her little outburst. He kept his hand on the knob but made no attempt at opening the door again.  
“Don’t go until I’ve had a chance to explain what happened!”  
“Then explain, dear sister,” he snipped.  
Sarah dropped her hand from the door. “It’s true, I was jealous and spiteful and thoughtless back then and I did wish you away to Jar- the Goblin King. But you got to believe me when I tell you that I didn’t mean it and I am so sorry for doing it!”  
Toby said nothing and remained facing the door. He felt his sister grab his shoulder.  
“Up until that moment, all I wanted was things to be the way they were. Before you, before your mom, before my parents split up. The only thing I ever thought about was what I wanted. However, after you were gone, all I knew was I had to get you back. Saving you was the only thing that mattered. I would have done anything to get you back, no matter what happened to me! Toby, don’t you see?” she pleaded. “Until then, I never knew how much you meant to me! I finally realized how much I really do love you! ”  
Sarah released her grip on his shoulder and let her hand fall.  
“Of course, there’s no excuse for what I did to you,” she said dejectedly. “All I can say is how truly sorry I am and hope you can forgive me.”  
Toby stood silently at the door, deliberating on what she said. What it all boiled down to was if what Sarah had done all those years ago was forgivable and, if it was, was he willing to forgive her? He found out, much to his surprise, that it was and he did.  
He turned around to face his sister and noticed immediately that she had been crying. He frowned. No matter how mad he was, it always hurt him to see his sister cry.  
“Well, there’s no need for tears,” he muttered to her. “What’s done is done, I guess. It’s not like we can change anything now.”  
Sarah wiped the dampness from her cheeks with her hands. She sniffled a little.  
“I suppose you’re right,” she agreed. “Can you ever forgive me?”  
Toby fidgeted. While a part of him wanted to punish her, a larger part felt she was honestly remorseful. “Yeah,” he grudged. “I forgive you. However, that doesn’t excuse what you’ve done! I’m still plenty mad at you.”  
“Fair enough,” she nodded, accepting his verdict. Then Sarah lunged forward and caught Toby up in an unexpected embrace. “Toby, I swear to God that I will never let anything bad like that happen to you again,” she promised.  
Toby returned her hug and they stood like that for a time. Eventually, the moment began to turn awkward for him and he started to break away.  
“Alright, enough of that,” he rebuked, “I said I forgive you. Do you want me to reimburse you for the pizza too?”  
Sarah stepped back and smiled faintly. “No, I think after all the trouble I caused, you deserve a free pizza. Maybe two.” Her eyes lit up, as she was struck with a notion. “In fact, let me make it up to you! On Saturday, the station is having a big bash at this trendy nightclub called Blue. It’s to celebrate my upcoming movie. Why don’t you and Angie come as my special guests?”  
The plan intrigued him. He had never been to a nightclub before and the thought of being in one was tempting. “Okay,” he agreed. “On one condition: you pay.”  
“Done.” She grinned as they shook hands on it.  
Toby smiled back at her and made to leave. Before he retreated through the doorway, he thought to ask one more thing.  
“Hey Sarah, did you ever think that he might have been serious?”  
She looked at him blankly. “Huh?” she asked in confusion.  
“The Goblin King,” he specified. “Do you think he actually meant what he said there at the end?”  
Sarah was taken aback. “He, I was – no,” she stumbled out. “He was only trying to distract me.”  
“Yeah, but what if he wasn’t?” Toby insisted, playing the devil’s advocate. “What if he meant it?”  
“It wouldn’t have mattered if he had meant it,” she asserted firmly. “Saving you was my only concern.”  
“But what if I wasn’t involved, would you have stayed?” he pressed.  
Sarah let out a gasp. She was clearly getting flustered. Her brow creased. “I don’t know, Toby!” she said. She closed her eyes and took a calming breath. When she opened them, she looked steadily at her brother. “I was only fourteen back then. I don’t know what I would have done, okay?”  
Toby just shrugged his shoulders and let it drop. Sarah shifted the conversation. “See you Saturday.”  
“Yep,” was his response as he turned and walked down the hallway towards the stairs.  
He had never seen Sarah get so worked up just talking about some guy. Clearly, Jareth left some kind of impression on her. Despite her aversion to answering his questions, he got the feeling that there was more there than she cared to admit. Jareth’s claim about being her soulmate didn’t sound so far-fetched to him now.  
It was dark out now and the streetlights were on. Toby dug in his pocket for his keys as he walked towards his Nova. He slipped the key into the keyhole and turned it until he heard the lock pop, then opened the door and hopped in. He put the key in the ignition gave it a twist. The car roared to life and Toby began strapping himself in. As he was securing his seatbelt, he saw something that gave him a shock.  
There on the seat beside him was a red velvet box.


	9. Chapter 9

PART 1  
.  
Toby drove home with the mysterious box sitting on the passenger’s side of the seat. The whole thing kind of creeped him out. He would occasionally cast a sideways glance at it; eying it as if he just picked up a hitchhiker that he was beginning to suspect might be a serial killer. While he had no idea how it had got on his front seat, he was in no doubt who had put it there. Jareth. This was his “subtle” way of reminding Toby that they had unfinished business.   
When he finally pulled into his driveway, it was nearly eight o’clock. He cut the lights and killed the engine but remained in the vehicle. He stared at the velvet box for several moments before finally reaching out with his right hand and collecting it. He lifted it, feeling its weight which seemed eerily heavier to him now then when he last held it. Undoing the clasp, he opened the lid. Toby could practically smell the magic it exuded. Even in the dimness, the gem at its center seemed to glow amidst the folds of soft fabric, as if it radiated its own internal light. As he stared at it, he wondered exactly how Jareth planned to win his sister over with the silver cuff. He looked at it a few seconds more before he snapped the lid shut and went into the house.   
He found his mom and dad on the couch watching a movie. They looked up in surprise as he entered the room.  
“Hey kiddo, what are you doing back so soon?” Roger Williams asked. “We didn’t expect you home until later. Is everything okay?”  
Toby thought back over what had transpired earlier.   
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he assured them, “Just had something I needed to get done here is all.” Toby quickly turned to another subject. “Hey mom, dad, Sarah’s work is throwing her a party on Saturday and she invited me and Angie. Is it okay if we go?”  
His mother sat up a little straighter on the couch.   
“Where is the party going to be?” she wanted to know.  
“At a club called Blue. They’re throwing it to celebrate her movie deal.”  
“A club?” His mom’s tone was turning into that of a mother superior’s. “Will there be alcohol there?”  
Toby tried to play it down. He shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe.”  
His mom pursed her lips, a sure indicator his request was about to be denied.  
“I don’t know Toby. I don’t think a club is the appropriate place for someone you’re age to be at.”  
Toby groaned. He looked to his dad seeking an ally. His father was more sympathetic to his cause.   
“Well Karen this is a special occasion,” he tried to persuade his wife, “And it’s not like he wouldn’t be supervised, Sarah will be there. Why don’t we give Sarah a call and discuss this party with her before we make any kind of decision about it?”  
Karen Williams glanced at her husband sitting on the couch beside her. He gave her an encouraging grin. She looked to her son who was watching her hopefully. He could see her defenses crumbling. Finally, she caved.  
“Alright, I’ll call Sarah.”   
Toby started to smile. The battle was half won. Sarah had an uncanny ability of getting people to see things her way. He knew Sarah would be able to convince his mom. He hoped.   
His mother rose from her spot on the couch to place the call. Toby walked over and plopped down next to his dad to wait.   
“Don’t worry,” his dad reassured him, “Sarah will talk your mother into it.”  
“Yeah,” he agreed giving his father a nod. Toby could hear his mom speaking now and his dad turned the TV down a little lower so they could make out what she was saying. She was standing in the entryway between the kitchen and the living room. He watched her as she asked Sarah about the club they were going to and whether or not there would be alcohol there. Then his mother was quiet for some time as she listened to the answer. Since he wasn’t able to hear both sides of the conversation, Toby could only imagine what Sarah was saying on the other end of the line. Whatever it was didn’t quite persuade his mother because then she asked Sarah if she would keep an eye on him all night. He watched his mother’s face from the other end of the room. It was very contemplative, and Toby held his breath as she listened to Sarah’s answer. Finally, Karen gave just the slightest nod and he knew his sister had pulled through for him. His father elbowed him lightly in the ribs.  
“What did I tell you?”  
Toby grinned and nodded. There was nothing left to do but wait for his mom to get off the phone and tell him he could go. Karen chatted a little longer on the phone with Sarah, congratulating her on her movie and asking questions about it. A few minutes later she was saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.  
She strolled into the living room up to the two Williams men on the couch. She looked down at her son.  
“Okay, you can go,” she yielded, and then set her jaw as she added, “Sarah told me that all underage patrons are out by eleven o’clock so you are to be home at midnight young man, and not a minute later!” Toby moaned and opened his mouth to disagree with his mom. She silenced him with her raised hand. “Or you don’t have to go at all,” she added in conjuncture.   
Toby grimaced at his mother’s decree and turned to his dad for backup but found none. His father merely shrugged at him in forfeit and darted his eyes back to his wife.   
“Fine,” he groused, rising from the couch. He retreated up the stairs to his room.  
“And if I smell even one drop of alcohol on you,” his mother called out after him, “you’ll be grounded until you graduate from college!”   
Toby rolled his eyes and made a sarcastic face, safely out of view of his mom. While disappointed he wouldn’t be able to stay out later, he was ecstatic that he was going at all. Hanging out in a club was a big step up from high school dances and formals. It was considerably more adult and he could hardly wait until the next day to tell Angie and boast to his friends at school. He would be the envy of all of them. That Saturday when his buddies would be hanging out at Gino’s or, if they had a few bucks to blow, maybe at a movie, he would be chilling with his girlfriend and sister at a nightclub. The fact that his sister was somewhat of a local celebrity (all his friends knew who Sarah was and declared her a ‘smoking hottie’, though not while in his presence) made it that much cooler and all the more impressive. Toby practically rubbed his hands in anticipation. That Saturday was going to be awesome.  
In his room, Toby emptied the contents of his jacket pockets, including the mysterious red box that had appeared in his Nova. Opening the left hand drawer of his desk, he dropped it inside. He stared at it one last time before he closed the drawer then headed off to take a shower. He didn’t think about the bracelet for the rest of the evening.  
The next day at school, Toby told Angie about the plans he and Sarah made for Saturday night. She was equally as excited as he was the night before. She even jumped up and down a little bit at the news until she ended her outburst by throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss. Her friends were just as giddy as she was and massed around her to plan what outfit she would wear. Being left out of the circle and not really interested in hearing the ins and outs of fashion, Toby went searching for his own friends.  
His friends took it much how he expected them to as well, with many moans of envy and comments on how lucky he was. Toby basked in their benign jealousy until Chad Harter made the statement how mind-blowing it would be to get to ‘bump and grind’ with Sarah on the dance floor. That took all the enjoyment out of Toby’s bragging and he gave Chad a murderous stare. All Toby received back was a wolfish grin and the rest of the boys, sensing his discomfort from Chad’s statement, started in with their own comments on how hot they thought his sister was. Toby just glared at them, his face getting redder with each new remark until finally he called them a bunch of frikken pervs and stormed off.   
There was another surprise awaiting the couple during Mrs. Bach’s American Lit class. Toby could sense there was something in the air when he and Angie entered the classroom and instead of the usual look of distaste she gave him, she actually smiled when they entered the room. Her pleasant demeanor left him confounded. The only time she ever smiled at him was when she was handing him a failing paper and the one time in the hall when he wasn’t watching where he was going and ran into an open locker door. Frankly, her smiling left him a little unnerved. He wondered if maybe she was planning a surprise test or if she somehow found out there was a terminal illness you could contract from handling footballs. Whatever it was, a grinning Mrs. Bach boded no good for Toby.   
As it turned out her smile wasn’t for him at all, but was intended for Angie. At the beginning of the class before they started their discussion on chapter nineteen of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ Mrs. Bach stood up before the class and revealed that she had a very special announcement. With a beaming face she announced that one of her pupils, in that very class, submitted an essay that won the Emmett/Rosemund Literary Scholarship for five thousand dollars. Toby noticed Angie sit up straighter in her seat as Mrs. Bach looked directly at her. She widened her grin and pronounced the winner was Angie Bernard. There was a short burst of applause from the students. Toby put his thumb and index fingers to the corners of his mouth and fweeted out a loud, shrill whistle that earned him a dark look from the stern teacher. Angie glanced around the classroom, her face glowing with joy as her peers congratulated her and applauded. Toby noticed even the normally stoic Mrs. Bach pulled the stick (which has permanent residence up her ass) out long enough to smile at her and clap with the rest of the room.   
After all the accolades from the class died down, it was back to business as usual. Mrs. Bach instructed her class to open their books to chapter nineteen and told Toby to get his legs out of the aisle. Toby smiled. Nothing could dampen his mood. He was going to be hanging out at a nightclub on Saturday, his girlfriend was winning scholarships and Mrs. Bach was still a bitch. All was right in the universe.   
After class, as they were readying themselves to leave, Mrs. Bach asked Angie to stay behind so they could discuss her scholarship further. She cast a sideways glance at her boyfriend and slowly pulled her hand out of his as the distance between them increased.  
“I’ll see you at lunch,” she told him with a smile. Toby just winked back at her as he left for his next class.   
In his fourth period algebra class, word was already getting around about Angie winning the scholarship. Many friends where passing on their congratulations to Angie through him. Many more came to compliment her intellect and determination. Toby’s chest filled with pride and happiness for his girlfriend. He couldn’t recall feeling so much admiration for any of the girls he previously dated. Though they were all very nice girls (except Shari Ross who he took to the Winter Ball in tenth grade, then dumped him as soon as they got through the doors to chase after Brian Grove) none of them measured up to her. Angie made everyone he dated before her seem like shiny bows on top of an empty box. All flash but no substance. Angie was so much more than that. Bright, pretty and charming, she was loved and admired by all who knew her. Most especially by a certain quarterback who nearly got a concussion the first time he saw her.   
The couple was reunited at lunchtime but Toby could perceive something amiss with his girlfriend. She barely looked up at him when he sat down at the lunch table. But he really knew something was wrong when he snatched a couple of fries off her tray and still kept all his fingers.  
“Hey, what’s up with you?” his voice was imploring. Angie sighed in disappointment and turned to him.  
“You know when Mrs. Bach had me stay after to talk about my scholarship?” she started.  
Uh oh. “Yeah,”  
“Well there’s going to be a banquet in Kingston but only for the recipients and their parents,” she continued haltingly.  
Bad. “Go on,” he urged.  
“And it’s being held this Saturday at seven in the evening.” She concluded mournfully.  
Shit!  
Toby banged his hand on his tray making his milk bounce. This just wasn’t fair! The first time he would be able to hang out in a nightclub and his girlfriend was skipping out on him!   
“Aw, c’mon Angie!” he moaned. “You have to come!”  
“I can’t!” she stressed to him. “There is no way my mom would ever let me blow off something like this just so I could go dancing at a club! Besides, this is kind of a big thing for me.”  
Toby folded his arms in front of him and leaned against the table. He lowered his head and glared at his sloppy joe. This was just fan-frikking-tastic.  
Angie slipped her arm in the crook of his elbow and leaned close to him. “I’d take you with me if I could,” she wheedled, trying to console him.  
Toby gave her a loud snort. He knew she was trying to make him feel better but he was in no mood to be soothed. Ordinarily, he would be all for her going to the banquet and, if he were allowed, would be more than happy to be there with her for support. But why the hell did it have to fall on this Saturday? Of all the shit dumb luck!  
“What am I supposed to do now?” he griped sullenly.  
“I don’t know,” she thought a little, “Why don’t you take one of your friends?”  
Toby sat there for a minute and imagined taking one of his friends. His brow furrowed when he remembered what they had to say about his sister that morning. There was no way he was inviting any of those horn dogs to go with him on Saturday so they could try to put the moves on his sister. The idea of it made the blood in his temples thrum.   
“Not a chance.” He mumbled.  
Angie sighed and leaned her head on against him in sympathy. Suddenly, her head popped off his shoulder and she perked up. Her eyes opened a little wider as inspiration struck.  
“I know who you could take,” she spoke quickly, a sign of her enthusiasm.  
Toby turned his head to look at her. “Yeah, who?” he grumbled.  
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.   
“Maggie.” was her simple answer.  
Now it was Toby’s turn to stare. His mouth dropped open a little bit at her proposal. Take Maggie Gillepsie to Blue? Now she was just being ridiculous.  
“You’re crazy,” he surmised at her suggestion and went back to staring at his lunch tray.  
“Just hear me out,” she tugged on his arm to regain his attention. “Since you’re so against taking one of your friends, why don’t you take one of mine?” Her eyes were filled with hope. “And no one would be more grateful for the invite than Maggie.”   
Toby considered the chatty junior and recalled the melancholy she went through when he and Angie first got together. He had made a vow to himself that he would make it up to her someday but the idea of taking her as a date to a trendy nightclub didn’t sound like a good plan to him.  
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” he declined.  
“Oh c’mon Toby, please?” she pleaded. “It would mean so much to her, especially after the rough time she’s been having.” They both knew what she was referring to. “Besides, it’s not like it’ll be a date. She’s your friend too. Nothing could be more natural!”  
He considered the hopeful girl’s proposition. It astounded him that she could be so considerate to one of her friends, particularly one she knew once had a crush on him! He knew if the shoe were on the other foot, he would not be so trusting of his friends to take her anywhere! But here she was, pleading Maggie’s case without even the slightest misgiving towards the other girl. Her faith in her friends astonished him.   
“Okay,” he relented, “Maggie it is.” Angie squealed in delight and wrapped her arms around his neck. Toby returned the squeeze but then grabbing her shoulders set her back at arm’s length. “But, you’re going to be the one that mentions it to her! I don’t want her getting the wrong idea and thinking I want to date her.”  
Angie made a wave of her hand, banishing the notion. “Oh, she’s not going to think that!” she said, brushing off her boyfriend’s concern. “I can’t wait to tell her! Let’s tell her after lunch!”  
He agreed hesitantly and when the lunch bell sounded they both headed down the hall to intercept Maggie at her locker. The younger girl was busying herself with selecting the correct books for her next class and didn’t even notice the couple until they were almost at her locker. She looked at them in surprise and a little doubt as the approached her.  
“Hey guys, what’s up?” she asked, shooting a look first at Angie, then briefly at Toby.  
“What are you doing this Saturday?” Angie was smiling broadly. Maggie looked at her friend with confusion.   
“Nothing, why?”  
“How would you like to go to Blue Saturday night with Toby?”  
The junior really did look confused now. She stared in bewilderment at Angie then gave Toby a disbelieving look. Toby stood there calmly though, with a neutral expression on his face. Finally, not being able to get a clue from him she addressed her friend again.  
“Are you guys kidding me?” she said with a heavy amount of uncertainty in her voice.   
“Nope,” Angie assured her, “I can’t go since I’ll be out of town at a scholarship banquet that night and we thought maybe you’d like to go instead.”  
The talkative female was at a loss for words, a rarity in Toby’s experience. She kept darting disbelieving looks between the two of them trying to decipher whether they were pranking her or not. When no joke was immediate in forthcoming, her expression changed to one of glee.  
“Well, yeah!” she exclaimed. “I’d love to go! I mean I’ll have to ask my mom but I’m sure it’ll be okay. What time should I be ready?” She directly addressed Toby.  
“I want to get to Sarah’s before seven so how bout I pick you up at six?” he offered up. “We’ll be back home before midnight.”  
Maggie nodded her head in understanding. “Leave at six, back by twelve, got it,” then she turned her attention back to Angie. “This is going to be so fun!” she was practically bouncing from excitement. “I can’t what! Thanks you guys!”   
She gave them both in turn an appreciative look. Toby could see the unfiltered joy in her face before she caught up Angie in a big hug. He smiled at seeing how happy it made her. The sight went a long way in soothing his rueful conscious. It gave him a warm feeling knowing he was making a girl, who was saddened by him only weeks ago, so happy. Perhaps Angie had the right idea about the whole situation. This could go a long way in healing the breach that had formed between the three of them. And from what he could see, Maggie wasn’t interpreting it as anything more than two friends going out together. This was actually working out better than he had anticipated. He thought to himself, ‘Maybe this Saturday isn’t going to turn out so bad after all!’  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
As the week drew closer to the anticipated night, the buzz around the group of friends heightened. The girls were still excitedly conversing on what outfit should be worn for that night, same as before, with the only exception being the cast change. Now it was Maggie who was at the center of the circle instead of Angie. Maggie was giddy the whole week from the attention she was receiving and in anticipation of the big event. Her new entourage had all kind of suggestions on what she should wear, how she should do her makeup and which color nail polish would go with what outfit. The closer to Saturday it became, the more fevered the discussions got and the more magazines came out for shoe references and hairstyles.   
Toby’s week worn on, much the same as the weeks before had. Sure he was looking forward to going out Saturday night but now that Angie wasn’t going with, much of the thrill had left him. Not that he expected the night to be a flop, he was certain he would have a good time hanging out with Maggie. It just wouldn’t be the same without Angie. Angie, for her part, was playing the role of sympathetic girlfriend and supportive friend to both Toby and Maggie, but Toby could see as the days passed the look of anticipation for her own big event shone out of her eyes. He didn’t begrudge her enthusiasm. It was a very big thing for her and if it had come at a more opportune time he would be feeling disappointed that he wasn’t allowed to accompany her to it. But with it being on the exact same day as his big night, it had sucked much of the enjoyment out of the occasions. Still, Toby was resolved to have a fun time with Maggie and be happy for his girlfriend.   
The early afternoon of that Saturday, Toby could be found at the Bernard residence, sitting on the porch swing with Angie. He had stopped by to spend a little time with her before she and her mother headed off to Kingston. He wouldn’t be able to stay very long, since Angie still needed to get ready for the banquet and they had to drop Mariah off at a friend’s house for over night. But what little time that was allotted him, he spent telling her how happy he was for her and not to eat any bad shellfish.  
“Toby, it’s being held at the Ramada, not the Salmonella Seafood Shack!” she chastised him. “I highly doubt they will be serving us poisoned shrimp.”  
“You never can tell these days,” he tormented, “They forget to remove one little poop chute and you could be in bed for days heaving your guts out.” He cast a mischievous glance sideways at her. She was giving him a dangerous look. A smile cracked across the teenaged boy’s face.  
“I’m just kidding,” he pulled her into his side with his right arm. “Seriously, you go and have a good time. I’d love to go with you but I’m kind of in high demand this evening myself.”  
Now it was Angie’s turn for a comeback. “Oh that’s right, you have a little party of your own to go to don’t you? I completely forgot.” They both threw each other sarcastic looks before they started laughing at one another.   
“I’m sorry I can’t come with you tonight,” she apologized as she leaned her head against his shoulder. “I would have loved to have gone with you if it wasn’t for this banquet.”  
Toby shrugged. “Eh, don’t worry about it. You could hardly have backed out seeing you were a recipient and all. Besides,” he gave her an impish grin, “It’s not like I’ll be going alone.”  
Angie elbowed him lightheartedly in the ribs. “You be a gentleman.” she warned. “If I hear you were anything less than a perfect choirboy, you’re going to be in a heap of trouble!”  
Toby chuckled and gave her a light hug then rose to his feet. “I’ll take that as my cue to leave before you start making more terroristic threats.” He leaned down and planted as kiss on her lips. Pulling back only a few inches away from her face, he gave her a sly smile. “See you tomorrow nerd.”  
Angie’s nose wrinkled at his use of the term nerd. She squinted her eyes in mock anger and stuck her tongue out at him. It only made Toby grin more and snicker as he was leaving the porch. She hopped out of her spot on the swing and called out after him as he crossed the yard to his Nova.  
“Well that’s a pretty heavy slam coming from a muscle-headed jock!” she insulted. Toby just kept walking to his car giving her no indication that he heard her. “And just remember what I told you! You better not make her fall in love with you!” she teased.  
Toby was still chuckling at her as he was pulling out of her driveway and onto the main road. He looked up at the house at her on the porch with her arms across her chest and a smug look on her face. Not willing to let her get the last word in, he rolled down his window for one last dig.  
“I promise nothing.” Was his delayed response to her last warning. With that he quickly pulled away from her house. He spared a look in his rear view mirror as he was speeding away and could see the disgruntled Angie leaning over the porch railing, shaking her fist and mouthing threats he couldn’t hear. Toby just grinned in amusement and headed for home.  
.  
.  
PART 3   
.  
It was five o’clock when Toby finally decided to start getting ready for the night. He took a shower and shaved the stubble off his cheeks and debated whether of not he should keep the growth on his chin. He couldn’t decide if it made him look older or scruffy. Figuring there wasn’t enough length there to make it stylish, he scrapped the blade over his chin and rid himself of all facial hairs.   
Next was his hair. Squeezing a dollop of gel in his left palm and rubbed it vigorously between his hands. He then ran his hands though his hair and tousled it until he got it the way he liked it. With a couple of swipes of deodorant under his arms and a quick shot of body spray across his chest, Toby headed for his bedroom with his bath towel wrapped around his waist.  
In his room he quickly set to picking out his wardrobe. Unlike the girls in Maggie’s ‘entourage’, Toby spent very little time deciding what he was going to wear. He opened his closet door and took inventory of what was in it. His decision came down to a classic white dress shirt or a long sleeved black button down the front shirt with white shoulder patch on the left side. He picked the black shirt and went to his dresser to pick out a pair of jeans. He threw on a pair of black high tops and his look was complete.  
Since it was the first full week of December, Toby knew he would have to wear some kind of a jacket, at least until he got to the club. He considered his varsity jacket then decided against it, realizing it would brand him a high school student. That was something he definitely didn’t want to give away. There was always his dad’s old brown leather coat. This alternative was better than his previous option and he ran to the top of the steps to holler down at his dad if he could borrow it. His father replied that he could and it was in the chest at the bottom of their bed.   
Now complete with his father’s leather coat, he gave himself an appraising look in his mirror and liked what he saw. His dad’s coat really set off his outfit. He looked fashionable in an effortless sort of way. The only thing he needed to pull the whole look together was his watch. He went over to his desk to retrieve it and was startled by what he found there instead.  
Sitting in the center of his desk was a red and silver box.  
Toby stared at the box. He was certain that he had not taken it out of his desk drawer and placed it there. This meant that someone came into his room and put it there. He eyed his room suspiciously, trying to see if the culprit was still there or had touched anything else. His room was the same as it ever was and there were no dubious characters lurking anywhere.   
The message was loud and clear: Give Sarah the bracelet. Toby picked up the ornate box. He knew he should probably give it to Sarah and be rid of the damn thing without delay but he didn’t feel comfortable with it. This just wasn’t the night. Tonight they were just going out to dance and have a good time. He didn’t need to get weighed down with the Goblin King’s love life tonight. Toby pulled open his desk drawer and dropped the box back inside.  
“Next time,” he said as he snatched up his watch and keys and headed downstairs.   
His parents were scattered throughout the downstairs. His dad was watching television in the living room and he could hear his mom in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes. His dad turned in his chair to see his son descend down the stairs. He gave the boy an approving look.  
“Well, don’t you look good,” He complimented his son. “The coat looks good on you.”   
Toby smiled at his dad. “Yeah, thanks.”  
“Toby, are you getting ready to leave?” his mother called out to him from the kitchen.  
“Yeah mom!” he yelled back at her. Soon Karen Williams was joining her son and husband in the living room, drying her soapy hands on her apron as she came in. She walked directly up to Toby and stopped in front of him.  
“What time are you to be back in this house?” she interrogated.   
He rolled his eyes and sighed but dutifully answered her, “Twelve o’clock.”  
“Not a minute later!” she warned. “And no drinking, no speeding and remember to use your safety belt.”  
“Okay mom,” he groaned. She closed the distance between the two of them and stood on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the check. Toby leaned down to accommodate her. “Have a wonderful time tonight dear. And listen to your sister!” she reminded him. He nodded to his mother and turned for the door.   
“Have fun tonight champ,” his dad told him as he was headed out. “Yep,” was the only response he gave before he was outside on his way to his car.   
It was a cold evening and he could see his breath hanging in the air. He walked briskly to his Nova his hands shoved in his coat pocket. When he got to his car he yanked open the door but before he could take his place in the driver’s seat he was startled by a familiar sight.  
A red velvet box.  
Toby gaped at the box. Someone was trying to get his attention and wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He picked it up and thought about throwing it out on the road in disgust but reconsidered. It would probably just reappear again and he didn’t need a magical box popping up with Maggie in the car. Toby let out an irritated sigh. He knew he had to give it to Sarah sometime and apparently tonight was going to be the night.  
“Alright, alright, I get it.” he muttered as he leaned across the front seat and put the box in the glove compartment. “I’ll give Sarah the damn bracelet.”  
There were no other incidents as he drove over to Maggie’s house to pick her up. He pulled into her driveway at ten minutes before six and hoped he was too early as he sprinted up to their front door. He took his hand out of his coat pocket just long enough to knock on the door then quickly returned it. After a few seconds, the door was opening and a man with salt and pepper hair was staring out at him.  
“Good evening Mr. Gillepsie. I’m Toby Williams,” he introduced himself politely. “I’m here to take Maggie out tonight.”  
Frank Gillepsie looked Toby up and down. He felt like he was being inspected for defects, which, in all probability, he was. He stood quietly at the front door waiting for some response from the older man. When he was done with his evaluation of the teenager he cast his glance out to the driveway and the car that was idling there. A critical look crossed his face.  
“Is that your Nova out there running?” Maggie’s father’s voice was deep and crisp, just how he imagined a drill sergeant would sound. For all he knew, the man standing before him could have been in the military. He was easily every bit as tall as Toby, maybe even taller and very broad at the shoulders. He managed to avoid the mid-life spread so many older men fall victim to and for some odd reason, Toby noticed his incredibly large hands. He could crush a melon in just one of them! He would hate to think what one of those manglers could do to a head…..  
Just then, Toby realized he was staring at the imposing man inside the door who was still waiting for an answer to his question! The thunderstruck teenager snapped himself out of his daze and finally answered him.  
“Uh, yeah.”  
‘He looks pissed, I should have turned the engine off!’ he mentally criticized himself. The Nova sat in the driveway rumbling away like a great cat. Ordinarily Toby would have cut the engine before approaching a house, particularly a girl’s house, but it was such a cold night, he had left it on to keep the heater running.   
Toby made an involuntary gulp as the older man cast another critical look out to his driveway. After a few tense moments, he spoke again.  
“That’s a 72 right?”  
Toby blinked in surprise. This was not the response he was expecting. The conversation was veering in a strange direction. He looked at Maggie’s father in a new light. Her dad was studying his car with acute interest. Realization dawned on Toby. It wasn’t the noise that was annoying the man. In fact, with closer inspection Toby could see the man wasn’t annoyed at all. The guy was a motorhead. Toby broke into a relieved smile.  
“Yeah it is,” he confirmed the man’s assertion. “It’s a SS.”  
Frank Gillepsie cocked his head to the side to listen to the engine better. “Sounds like a four-barrel 350 V8 to me.”  
Toby gave him a blank expression. He never was into the mechanics of a car so he had no idea what he was talking about. But before he had a chance to make a vehicle faux pas, Maggie came bounding up to the door.   
“Daddy, what did I tell you!” she admonished him with teen authority. “No car talk! Hey Toby.”  
“Hi Maggie.” He replied back.  
Toby was stunned by the girl’s appearance. Maggie Gillepsie looked….. well, amazing was the best word he could use to describe the younger girl. Her dark hair was piled fashionably on her head with spiky wisps adorning her face and crown of her head. She was wearing an off white dress with matching shoes and a violet fur jacket. Normally Maggie wore very natural make-up but for tonight she had on a pink tinted lip gloss and her brown eyes were rimmed with dark eyeliner and the lids dusted with a glittery pale blue eye shadow. She looked very stylish, like she stepped off a page from a teen fashion magazine.   
Mr. Gillepsie looked down at his daughter and smiled. It was easy to see that the teenaged girl was the apple of her father’s eye. Maggie reached up to give her dad a hug and a kiss.   
“I’ll be back soon daddy.” She promised him.  
The older man just smiled as she went past him out the door. His eyes lighted on Toby again and his look hardened.  
“I want her back in this house before midnight.” His voice was authoritative.  
All Toby could do was nod his head in agreement. Satisfied his orders had been received, the older man mercifully closed the door on him without anymore interaction.  
“Don’t let my dad rile you up,” Maggie said to him as they were walking to his car, “He’s like that with everyone.”  
“Mmmm.” Was all he said back to her. Once they got into the car it took Toby little time before he had it in reverse and was headed down the road. There was an odd silence in the car as they drove along. Before it could get uncomfortable, he paid her a compliment.  
“You look really nice tonight.”   
“Thanks!” the girl glowed from his compliment. “You look nice too.”  
There was a small awkward silence again. Toby tried to fill it with polite conversation. “Is that real fur?” That was all it took to open the flood gates.  
“What? No!” she assured him. “This is faux fur, but it looks real doesn’t it? I would never wear real fur, it’s inhumane you know. I’m completely against animal cruelty. Do you know what they do to those poor animals on fur farms? If you did, I promise you, you wouldn’t ever look at a fur coat the same way again. I don’t know why those Hollywood actresses still insist on wearing furs on the red carpet and stuff. Don’t they realize they’re wearing murdered animals? And don’t even get me started on what goes on at slaughterhouses…. Is that coat leather?”  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
Toby arrived at Sarah’s apartment in record time with Maggie chattering the whole way. Even though her incessant gabbing put him in a zombie like daze, he was glad for it. He and she were back to the way they were before he and Angie started dating. Even though he still found her non-stop talking exasperating, a chatty Maggie was better than a depressed Maggie.   
The two teenagers climbed the stairs to Sarah’s second story apartment. They strode up to the door and Toby rapped on it. After a few seconds, the door opened.  
Sarah was on the other side looking gorgeous. She was in red oriental dress with cropped sleeves and a mandarin collar with a water drop open at the neck. It was embroidered with golden cherry blossoms and branches and she paired it with black hose and heels. Her hair was done up to match her dress, a bun at the back of her head with black chopsticks keeping it immobilized and long wisps of hair framing her face. Toby was in awe. Sarah looked sophisticated and (he abhorred to use this word, especially about his sister) flirty.   
“Whoa sis, it looks like a JC Penney blew up all over you,” he joked. Maggie gasped beside him, in shock. Sarah took his criticism in stride though.  
“That’s how much you know, I got it at Sears.” she shot back. Sarah turned her eyes on Toby’s date. “Hi, I’m Sarah, I’m this jackass’s sister. Why don’t you come in?” She opened her door wider for admittance. “You,” she directed her attention back to her brother, “can stay in the hallway.”   
Toby smirked at her as he pushed his way into the apartment. “Sarah, this is my friend Maggie.” He introduced them.  
“It’s nice to meet you Maggie,” Sarah reached out for the younger girl’s hand.  
Maggie gripped Sarah’s hand with both of hers. “Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well!” she spouted enthusiastically. “Toby’s told us all about your new movie deal! That is so cool. Do you think you’ll be starring with any movie stars, like Orlando Bloom maybe? Wouldn’t that be awesome! Probably not though, right? I think it’s great that you work in the child entertainment industry, you know, the kids are our future. Can I use your bathroom to do a little touch-up?”  
Sarah observed her whole outburst with a look of amazement on her face. She literally had to give herself a little headshake to snap herself out of her shock.  
“Um, yeah, sure.” She recovered. “Down the hallway, first door on the right.”  
“Thanks!” Maggie called out merrily as she turned down the hallway.  
“Well, she’s a talkative little thing isn’t she?” Sarah said in a low voice, once the girl was out of earshot. “I thought you were bringing Angie tonight?”  
“She couldn’t come, she had a scholarship banquet she had to go to,” he explained. “So I brought Maggie along instead. A bit of a chatterbox but she’s okay once you get used to her.”  
“Uh-huh,” she drawled out giving him a scrupulous look, “That’s the understatement of the year!”  
“Just do what I do and go to a happy place,” he advised her. “Are we ready to go?”  
“Just as soon as I get my coat and your date is done in the bathroom.” She pulled her black leather coat on and fastened the tie around her waist. “We’ll take my car there. I’d rather arrive in style than in that old rust bucket of yours.” She gave him a smirk.  
“Yeah, whatever,” he brushed off her smart comment. “My rust bucket could beat your crap box any day. That’s a really nice coat there sis, looks real expensive. Make sure you mention its leather to Maggie.”  
The trio arrived at Blue a little bit after seven. After a long winded lecture about the evils of harvesting animals for their skins on the ride over, Sarah was anxious to be out of the car. On their walk into the club, Sarah leaned in closer to her brother.  
“Don’t think you’re getting away with that leather coat ambush,” she hissed at him, “I am so going to pay you back for that one.”  
Toby snickered under his breath at his handiwork. But all thought of furs and animal cruelty left his head once he stepped into the night club. It was more than he ever imagined.   
It was huge inside. The lighting was dim and everywhere glowed with blue neon lights that lined the walls and along the bar. There was a large dance floor that was edged with flashing blue and green lights that were embedded in the floor and covered with shatter-proof glass. The air thumped with the sound of the base that was being played out of the speakers that were on the stage where the deejay was set up. Every so often, laser lights would scan the crowd in sync with the music. The bar was off on the right and had three big screen televisions placed on the wall behind it. The dance floor was surrounded by cocktail tables but to the left side of the club was set up long tables and booths. There were several people sitting at the tables, a few Toby even recognized. Like Kelly Roberts, the cute weather girl at Sarah’s station and the guy from the car sales commercial that they lead off in a straight jacket because his prices are so low it’s crazy.   
“ID please.”  
Toby was so caught up in the sights and sounds that surrounded him he almost didn’t notice the tall, robust man that was working the door. Toby was surprised by him at first but then read the name ‘Blue’ across his black tee shirt and realized he was a bouncer.   
“These two aren’t drinking!” Sarah told the man rather loudly, so she could be heard above the music. The bouncer nodded at her and told Toby and Maggie to stick out their arms. The two teens did as they were instructed and he fastened a wristband around each of their right wrists. It had little pictures of martini glasses on it with a circle around the glasses and a slash through the middle of the circle.   
“These are your passes in here tonight,” the burly man explained to them. “If me or any of my other colleagues,” at this time he pointed out three other men as brawny as he was, dressed in black tee shirts, “catch either one of you without this wristband on, we’ll toss you out. Got that?”  
Maggie and Toby nodded their heads. The doorman continued.  
“Your cut off time is eleven o’clock. After that all underages are out, no exceptions. If we find you trying to hide out in here or trying to sneak back in, you’re banned from Blue.”   
He waited for either of the teens to ask him a question or try to contradict him. Neither of them did. The bouncer eyed them up a little more then jerked his head towards the inside of the club, indicating they were allowed to enter.  
“Hey!” Sarah shouted at Toby to be heard over the music, “I see some of the guys from work. C’mon, this way!” She grabbed Toby by the arm and pulled him towards the long tables. Maggie was in tow behind them.  
“Can you believe this place!” Maggie asked him as they made their way through the crowd of people towards their tables. “This place is incredible!” She looked all around her in awe.   
Before the three of them could make it to the tables, Sarah was approached by a short, plump, blond haired woman dressed in pink babydoll shirt that showed off way too much of her cleavage. The woman looked positively giddy.  
“Oh hey Tracey!” (or Sarah could have said Stacey, Toby couldn’t hear her too well) “This is my baby brother Toby and his friend Maggie.”  
“Nice to meet you,” the blonde woman said to them without even giving them a sideways glance. “Sarah, you will never guess who’s here tonight! Charles Weinerzetheim!” Toby snorted humorously at the mention of his name.  
“Mr. Weinerzetheim’s here tonight?” she asked, eyes scanning the crowd.  
“Yes!” the shorter woman confirmed. “He showed up only ten minutes ago, he pulled up in a silver Jaguar! And he’s most anxious to meet you!”  
Tracey (or Stacey) took Sarah’s hand and lead her to a corner of the club where the booths were, leaving Toby and Maggie to tag along. In the very last booth were two men with stout glasses filled with ice and an amber liquid (scotch maybe?) that were speaking closely. They looked up at their approach and Toby recognized the one man as Sarah’s station manager, Mr. Kurtz, who stood up as they drew nearer. The other man, who looked older than Sarah but not quite as old as his parents, stayed seated. He was very lean, almost to the point of being gaunt.  
“Sarah!” her boss called out to his sister. “So glad you could join us! I was almost afraid something happened to you.”  
“You know me Paul, I love to make an entrance.” Her excuse poured smoothly from her lips.   
Mr. Kurtz laughed. “Your movie’s not even made yet and you’re already acting like a star!” he smiled. “Sarah, I would like to introduce you to the man that will be directing your movie debut, Charles Weinerzetheim.”  
Sarah looked at the thin man and gave him a winning smile. Toby leaned in closely to his sister to whisper in her ear, so that only she could hear, ‘Chuck Wieners At Him’. Her only reply was a swift elbow to his side, never even breaking eye contact with the director.  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Weinerzetheim.” She extended her hand across the table to shake his. “Allow me to introduce my brother Toby and his date Maggie.”  
The two teens took turns shaking the director’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally get to meet you Sarah. And please, call me Charles.” His voice was soft but discernable above the din of the nightclub. “You two as well.” He nodded in Toby and Maggie’s direction. “Please, allow me to get all of you a drink. Perhaps champagne all around, to celebrate Sarah’s promising future.”  
Toby began to open his mouth to say he wasn’t legal but before he got the chance, Sarah spoke up for him.  
“Oh, these two aren’t drinking.” She explained to him. Toby held up his right wrist to confirm it.   
“Ah,” he said with comprehension, “then perhaps a cola or virgin daiquiri?”  
Maggie’s eyes lit up at the mention of a fancy drink. She yanked on Toby’s arm.  
“Yeah, that sounds good.” He agreed.  
The man motioned for a waitress and placed their order. In a few minutes they were all seated, enjoying their drinks.   
The talk at the table was very stale for the youngest of the party. Toby thought discussing the production of Sarah’s movie would be interesting, but it wasn’t. He found the conversation painstakingly boring and he could tell by the way Maggie was looking around and drumming her fingers on the table, she was just as bored.   
Charles noticed their boredom and spoke up, “I’m afraid this conversation is rather dry for youngsters. You two should be on the dance floor enjoying yourselves! And feel free to put anything you order on my tab.”  
Toby thanked the man for his hospitality as he and Maggie departed from the group. The two friends made their way onto the dance floor and started to sway and move with the music that was playing. Maggie was a really good dancer. She knew all the latest steps and easily kept up with the rhythm of the music. Toby, on the other hand, was a little less skilled than his partner. It took him a little while before he got in step with her, and even then, he could only manage a modified two step.   
After a few songs, the two left the dance floor to go get something to drink. They showed off their wristbands to an attractive female bartender who had hot pink streaks through her blonde hair. Toby ordered a Coke for himself and another virgin strawberry daiquiri for Maggie. When she asked for imbursement for the drinks, Toby told her to put it on Charles Weinerzetheim’s tab. She nodded in agreement and moved down the bar to the next customer. Toby and Maggie gathered up their drinks and settled at a recently deserted cocktail table.  
“I really am having a great time tonight!” she announced as they sat down. “This is the coolest place I’ve ever been at! Thanks for bringing me along.”  
“No problem,” he said, as he scanned the crowd. A tall, thin boy with brown hair drew his attention. He caught him staring at him and Maggie for the better part of when they were dancing. Toby could see the boy was roughly about their age maybe a little older, but definitely not twenty-one yet (he spotted him wearing the same wristband they were). When he saw Toby caught him staring, he looked away quickly and pretended to be listening to what his friends around him were saying. Toby grinned.  
“Don’t look now, but I think you’re getting checked out,” he told her.  
Maggie immediately began craning her head around trying to locate her admirer. “Where?”   
“Over there, next to the stage.”  
Maggie directed her attention to the indicated spot and located the group of boys. About that same time, the boy in question looked over at them again and seeing she was looking in his direction, flashed her a smile. Maggie smiled timidly back.  
“What should I do?” she asked Toby.   
“Don’t worry about it, I know just what to do.” He guaranteed her. Toby picked up his drink from the table and began walking away. Before he got two steps, she had a hold of his arm.  
“Don’t just leave me here!” she squealed at him.  
“Take it easy,” he tried to calm her, “I’m just going to go over and talk to Sarah for a little bit. You stay right here. That guy isn’t going to come up to talk to you with me standing around. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”   
He gave her a reassuring look. When he saw she was okay, he walked over to the tables where he last saw Sarah.  
His sister was standing there chatting with some of her colleagues from work. He noticed her arms swinging more loosely than before, an effect of the alcohol she was consuming. He walked up to her and saw she had a different drink in her hand.   
“Hey sis, how’s it going?”  
Sarah turned to look at her brother with a lopsided grin on her face. “Tobes!” she exclaimed. “We’re doing great over here. Where’s your friend?”  
Toby looked across the club and saw that Maggie was now in the company of the brown haired boy that had been watching her earlier. They were talking and flirting with each other.  
“She’s over there making a new friend,” he told her as he nodded in Maggie’s direction. Sarah looked towards the bar and got a big smile.  
“Well, good for her!” her words ran together a little.   
Just then, Charles came up to the siblings with a glass filled with blue liquid.   
“Here you are,” he said handing it to Sarah. She took the drink with her free hand.  
“But I haven’t even finished the last drink you got me yet!” she laughed. She turned to Toby. “Charles and I have been talking about my movie and he thinks that with his help it will put me in position for getting more roles! Isn’t that great?”  
“Yeah, that’s great,” he agreed.   
“I think your sister has great raw talent,” he complimented her. His eyes roved over Sarah briefly without her notice. But Toby noticed. “I think with my guidance, your sister could really move up in the world.” He gave Toby a seedy wink. With that, he led Sarah away into the crowd.  
Toby stood there, fuming. He had a feeling he knew exactly what kind of role he wanted to get Sarah in and it had nothing to do with her acting. He was just settling on the idea of going over and laying one up alongside of old Chuckie’s head when he paused. What would happen to Sarah’s movie? He felt fairly certain that attacking the director would pretty much nip that deal in the bud. And how would he justify his actions? He pummels a guy all because he looked at his sister and got a twitch in his eye? No, he couldn’t do that. But he would be damned if he was going to let that sleazy s.o.b. take advantage of his sister.  
Opting for a more ‘watch and see’ approach, Toby went back over to the dance floor where Maggie was still happily chatting it up with her admirer. She saw him moving towards them and broke out in a great smile.  
“Toby!” she called out to him excitedly, “I want you to meet Tyler. He’s a senior over at Glendale.”  
Tyler and Toby nodded their heads at each other in acknowledgement. The brown haired boy smiled at Toby.  
“I saw the football game between our schools and I gotta admit, you guys are tough,” he praised. “You had us worried for a bit.”  
“Yeah, well your team got the better of us.” He was surprised the statement didn’t give him any discomfort to say.  
“Well, if it’s any consolation to you, we got knocked out of the playoffs by Martinsville two weeks later.” It did console him a little bit. “The murdered us, 35-14.”  
“They’re really good,” Toby concluded. “What brings you out here tonight?”  
Tyler opened his mouth but Maggie was already there. “He’s here with his brother Travis and his friends,” she answered for him, “Its Travis’s twenty-first birthday! I can’t wait until I’m twenty one, I’m going to have a big blow out for my birthday. Oh, I love this song! Let’s go dance!” The Glendale boy gave Toby a bemused look as the excited girl grabbed hold of his hand and led him out to the dance floor.  
As the duo danced, Toby just leaned up against the cocktail table they were occupying and watched his sister like a hawk. He saw as the shady director brought her yet another drink, and him place his hand on the small of her back. She continued talking and laughing with the group around her but gradually moved away from the unwelcome contact. Toby smiled viciously as the older man was shut down.  
For the better part of an hour, Toby was content to watch as Sarah brushed off all of Chuckie’s attempts to pursue her. He kept trying to ply Sarah with drinks, which gave him cause for alarm, but with Sarah safe among her co-workers he doubted she was in any real danger. Still, he knew what the calculating Charles was up to.  
During his vigil, Toby interacted with Tyler and his group. Travis and his two friends all came over to talk with his brother’s new acquaintances. Travis also complimented him on his playing in the last game and asked if he had any offers from colleges. Toby told them that MSU and Penn State was showing interest but he hadn’t decided which one he would go with. The other boys looked duly impressed and each one offered up their own recommendation. As the hour passed from nine to ten o’clock they kept him engaged in conversation but all the while Toby was keeping tabs on Sarah. Eventually, another song that Maggie liked began to play. She grabbed Toby’s hand and broke his concentration.   
Realizing what she was after he began to protest. “Wait- nah Maggie, I think I’ll just sit this one out-”  
“Oh no you don’t!” she interrupted, “You’ve hardly danced at all tonight! Quit being such a party poop and come dance with me!”  
Toby relented and let the perky junior drag him onto the dance floor. They were followed out by Tyler and his one friend that had also taken an interest in Maggie and was vying for her attention. As they danced, Toby continued to keep watch over his sister, occasionally catching a glimpse of her through the sea of bobbing heads. He could see the smarmy director was by her side again, but this time Sarah wasn’t smiling or talking. Toby shifted through the crowd to keep a visual on his sister. He watched as the slender man leaned down close to her ear and whisper something to her that made her shoot him a glare and snap something back at him. Toby stopped dancing completely when he saw him grab Sarah’s arm.  
Maggie noticed something was wrong with her dance partner and quit dancing as well. “What’s a matter?” she asked him.  
Toby didn’t answer only continued to watch the scene across the club unfold before him. Sarah had wrested her arm free from his grip and was staring at him hotly. By now, Sarah’s co-workers become aware of the situation and watched with worried faces. She said a few abrupt words that he couldn’t decipher but it only made the brazen male reach for her again. At that time Toby was in motion.   
He pushed through the wall of bodies that were between him and Sarah. Once he broke free of the dance floor, he strode purposefully up to where his sister and her molester were arguing. As he approached them, he could hear Sarah warding off her antagonist.  
“….. and I am not one of those floozies that goes bouncing from bed to bed trying to land a part in some B rated movie!” she snarled at him. “If that’s what you had in mind, then you can just forget it!”   
The scumbag just stood there with an arrogant expression on his face. His lips twisted in an ugly smile.  
“Sarah, you truly can’t be so naïve,” he taunted her, “That’s how it’s done in this business. I toss you a couple of parts to help boost you lagging career, and in return you show me some heartfelt appreciation.” The word practically oozed from his mouth. “Everybody wins. If you don’t want to play the game, I’m sure I can find another bimbo that will.”  
Sarah’s jaw dropped open in horror at what he had just said to her. Toby could see she was struggling to form a comeback so he stepped in for her.  
“Hey, douchebag,” the haughty man cast a scornful look in Toby’s direction. “I think you heard her. She doesn’t want anything to do with you or that tiny pecker of yours.”  
Now it was the director’s turn to be shocked. He looked at Toby contemptuously, stunned that the boy dared speak to him like that! He took a step forward and in one quick motion, threw his drink in Toby’s face.  
Toby recoiled, his eyes burning from the strong liquor. It took him only a split second to recover then rush towards his assailant.   
Sarah and her boss, Mr. Kurtz quickly threw their bodies in between the enraged teenager and his instigator.   
“Toby NO!” Sarah yelled over the racket. “Let it go, he’s not worth it!”  
At this time, some of the bouncers took notice of the altercation and were hurrying over to break it up. Seeing that reinforcements were on the way emboldened the sleazy director.  
“You’re lucky your sister was here to keep you from making a big mistake!” he sneered at Toby. Before he could respond, Sarah spun on his tormentor.  
“Let me tell you something Chuck WeinersAtHim!” she spit out at the man. He bristled at the misuse of his name. “Don’t kid yourself, you’re the lucky one! My brother would have mopped the floor you!” She took a step towards him and angrily pointed her finger in his face. “And another thing, I’d never sleep with you even if it would win me an Oscar!” She was on a roll now. “Hell, I wouldn’t even be able to fake an orgasm with you, I’m not that good of an actress!”  
Before she had a chance to insult him further, two bouncers were there to escort them out. The one that had carded them at the front door led an indignant Sarah to the exit. Maggie (who had watched the whole spectacle with a mortified expression on her face) gathered up Sarah’s coat and purse that she left behind at the table and hurried off after her. That left just Toby and his usher.  
“Are we going to have any problems?” the bouncer asked him. He was a large, bald black man who looked like he might burst out of his tee shirt at any moment. Going against him would be suicide.   
“No problems here,” Toby promised. “Just let me swing by our table and gather up my coat.”  
The bouncer eyed him suspiciously but nodded his head in concession.   
Toby made his way through the crowd towards their table. The party was still in full swing. Other than a few looky-loos, the clubs patrons and rest of the staff seemed oblivious to the heated confrontation that just took place.   
Toby found his coat where he had left it hanging on one of the bar stools at the table he and his new friends had occupied. He put his coat on and was headed for the door, but not before he tended to one last bit of business.  
The teenager casually strolled up the bar. He was greeted by the pretty bartender that had been keeping his tab earlier. Not aware of what had just transpired, she asked him for his order.  
“A round of drinks for the house,” he told her. The bartender looked at him in amazement. Toby gave her a devious smile. “Compliments of Charles Weinerzetheim.”  
.  
.  
PART 5  
.  
Once in the parking lot, Toby hurried to Sarah’s car to make a hasty get away. He found Maggie and Sarah in the back seat of the BMW. Sarah was lying on the seat, an inebriated mess, and Maggie was smoothing her hair with her hand. Toby crawled into the driver’s seat.  
“Guess I’m driving,” he reached his hand into the back seat. “Keys.”  
Sarah mumbled something that only Maggie could understand which sent the younger girl rummaging through Sarah’s purse. After a few seconds, she produced the keys and handed them to Toby.   
The car roared to life and the band of miscreants was soon speeding out of the parking lot. Toby took a left turn and aimed the car in the direction of Sarah’s apartment. He had a little difficulty finding his way back to Sarah’s, being that it was the first time he had ever been in that section of town. After having to backtrack once, Toby drove around until he finally recognized a Dairy Queen that he always passed on the way to her place. Confident he was on the right track, he took a turn at the next light then it was straight through a few more lights to Sarah’s apartment.  
During the drive home, Sarah regained some control over herself and was sitting up in the backseat. Still very pissed off about the turn the evening took, she vented about what jerks men could be and used quite a few expletives to describe her former, would-be director. During one particularly fiery rant, she even wished he was dead. Toby had never heard his sister talk that way. Not even the time when she picked him up from kindergarten and one of the snootier moms thought she was his mother and criticized her for being an unwed teen mom. His teacher had to come out to resolve that little episode. But even though Sarah had been mad enough to call the other woman a ‘festering boil on society’s ass’, she didn’t wish her dead. Toby attributed her particularly vicious statement do to the fact she had been drinking and the vile things that were said to her.  
They pulled up to Sarah’s building around ten-thirty. Toby carefully backed Sarah’s car into her parking space and shut off the engine. Once everyone exited the car, he pressed the lock button twice until he heard the ‘bloop’ of the car locking. Then he proceeded to walk Sarah and Maggie to the apartment.   
Sarah managed to make it upstairs without incident and even was able to unlock her door, though it did take her three attempts to get the key into the lock. Once inside the apartment Sarah flung her coat and purse onto the couch.  
“Make yourself at home you guys!” she waved grandly around the living room. Maggie gave him a cautious look and Toby knew it was time to call it a night.  
“Um, that’s okay,” he told his sister, “I think it’s time for us to hit the road.”  
“What? No!” she objected. “C’mon you guys, it’s not even eleven yet, you can’t leave now!” She took a step towards them and stumbled on the carpet. Toby was there to catch her before she fell to the floor. Sarah dangled in his arms as he tried to right her on her feet. When he finally got her somewhat steady, she looked up at him with droopy eyes.  
“I think I have to go to the bathroom.” Her intoxicated breath blew straight in his face. Toby grimaced at the smell.  
“Whew!” he waved his hand in front of his face in emphasis. “Whatever you want, just don’t breathe on me again.” He shifted her in his arms until he was supporting her with his right arm around her waist. Maggie came around to her other side to help support her. “Come on you.”  
Once in the bathroom, Sarah dropped down on the toilet. She leaned back against the tank and scrubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands. After a little bit, she uncovered her eyes and looked up at them.  
“I think I’m going to be okay.” She announced. “My head is swimming a little that’s all.” A weary smile played across her lips. “Well this turned out to be some kind of a night. I lose my movie deal, you nearly get in a fight and we get tossed out of a club, all in less than four hours. That’s got to be some kind of a record for how fast things can go down the crapper. I don’t care. It’s not like it’s never-”  
A choking sob broke off what she was about to say and Sarah slumped forward, covering her face with her hands. Her body began to shudder as she started to weep. Toby turned to Maggie who had a concerned look on her face.  
“Can you give us a minute?”   
The girl just nodded as she stared at Sarah. Then she turned to revisit the living room. Toby closed the bathroom door after she left.   
He stepped beside his sister and placed his hand on her shoulder. He said nothing as she wept, willing to let her cry it out. After awhile, she took in a trembling breath.  
“It’s just not fair!” she wailed, still with her face buried in her hands. “Everything was going fine until that jackass came around talking about making a movie about my show!” She sniffled. “I know it was only going to be a straight to video movie but it was a start. It made me think that maybe- I had hoped that it would-” she broke off again in a new wave of sobs. She looked up from her seat at Toby, her eyes and cheeks smeared with her mascara. “Why did he have to be like that Toby?”  
Toby sighed as he sat down across from her on the side of the bathtub. He looked gently at his sister. She quieted a little.  
“You know what I think Sarah?” she shook her head, “I think, screw him. I think he’s just a dirty old man that can’t get women to sleep with him unless he buys them and he couldn’t get you to stoop to that level. So what if you lost the movie? Big deal! They’ll be other offers out there, better offers! And if not, who cares? You were doing just fine before he showed up. Listen, you’re the star of one TV show and you’re the producer of another show. Someday you’ll be running that place! You did that all on your own. You didn’t need that guy, he needed you. It’s his loss.”  
Sarah smiled weakly at her brother. She had stopped crying but her eyes still glistened from unshed tears. She ran the back of her hand under her nose and sniffed.  
“I guess you’re right,” she took a cleansing breath before going on. “He sure made a mess of things tonight though.” She looked up at him fearfully, “Don’t tell Karen about what happened tonight or she’ll never let you visit me again!”  
Toby took his finger and crossed his heart. “What mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”  
She laughed emptily. “You know, it’s just my luck. The first guy to take an interest in me in months and it had to be that degenerate pervert!” She snorted. “Between guys that run screaming from me and guys that just want to jump my bones, I’m beginning to wonder if there’s something wrong with me.”  
Toby gave her a wicked grin. “You mean you’re just beginning to wonder that?”  
Sarah sniggered at his statement then shook her head slowly. When she looked back up at him he could see a hidden regret in her eyes.  
“I’m serious.” she said. Toby dropped his smile. “I used to tell myself to be patient and one day it would just happen. That Mr. Right was just around the next corner. But I’m not so sure about that anymore. I’m starting to worry that there might not be somebody out there for me. That maybe that’s all there is out there, perverts and coffee dates, you know?” She let out a shaky sigh. “I’m scared that I may never find my soulmate.” she murmured sadly.  
Maybe it was her use of the word ‘soulmate’ that made him remember or maybe he didn’t want his sister to be so sad and lonely. Whatever it was, Toby’s thoughts turned to the little red box in the glove compartment of his Nova. Though he wasn’t certain how it would help the present situation, he felt compelled that he should give it to her. Perhaps it would cheer her up just to get a present? Or maybe it would lift her spirits to know that someone did love her and was only waiting for the chance to prove that to her? Whatever the reasoning was, he felt that the time was right to give it to her. But the bracelet was all the way down in his car and….wait. He felt a small bulge in his coat. Slipping his hand into the pocket, his fingers brushed against velvet. He was startled by his discovery. How did that get in there? Not really wanting to know the answer, he pushed the uncertainty out of his mind and withdrew the box from his coat.  
Sarah’s eyes were on the box immediately. Surprised by its appearance, she asked “What’s that?”  
Toby looked up at his sister, with a nervous face. Calming himself, he counted to five before answering. “It’s a gift.”  
She looked at him in puzzlement. “For me? What for?”  
Toby was ready this time. “Well, since you went and gave me my Christmas present early I thought I’d return the favor.” He lied smoothly as he handed her the box. “Merry Christmas.”  
Sarah reached out and took the gift from him. As soon as the box left his hand, a great wave of relief came over him. There. He had fulfilled his side of the bargain. The Goblin King was at last paid up.  
She opened the box and drew in a sharp breath. Her eyes widened when she saw the silver bracelet that lay within. Gingerly picking it up with her fingers, she removed it from its velvety sheath.  
“Oh Toby, it’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, her eyes never leaving the bangle. “Thank you so much!”  
Toby didn’t answer her, only watched her reaction. At first, he was glad that his ‘gift’ cheered her up so much. It seemed to be the only redeemable moment of the night. But then, he noticed the strange way his sister looked at the silver cuff, as if she were mesmerized by it. Her eyes scanned greedily over it as she examined the curves and etchings of it. Gradually, a glazed look came over her eyes as a slight smile stretched across her face.   
Then he felt it. Something…. wasn’t right. It disturbed him to see the change that had come over her. She had the same hungry look on her face that Jareth had on his the night he gave the bracelet to him. Alarms blared in Toby’s head. Somewhere deep down in his soul, he sensed danger. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was but he knew something was wrong, this was wrong. As Sarah was eagerly unclasping the chain to put it on her wrist, understanding suddenly flooded into Toby. It was the bracelet. The bracelet was affecting her this way!  
Without a moment’s hesitation, Toby reached out with his right hand and smacked the piece of jewelry away from her. Sarah looked at him wildly and gave him a kind of growl before she dove to the floor to retrieve it. But Toby was there first. He scooped up the silver bracelet, only to have Sarah violently try to wrest it away from him. She fought to regain the bracelet, even sinking her nails painfully into the backs of his hands. He winced as blood welled up to the surface but he refused to relinquish the cuff.  
“That’s mine!” she shrieked, still trying to jerk the bracelet loose. Toby tried to pull his hands away from her but she clutched to them like a drowning woman.   
“Sarah!” he yelled at her, “Sarah!” She quit pulling and looked him in the face. Toby could see the uncontrollable desperation in her eyes. “Sarah, you got to listen to me, this bracelet isn’t what you think it is. I didn’t get it for you for Christmas, in fact I didn’t get it for you at all. It was given to me by-” he paused to gather his courage, “It was given to me by Jareth.”  
Sarah flinched back in shock. She released his hands as if she were gripping a hot coal. “Jareth?” she asked in confusion.   
Toby nodded his head. “He wanted me to give that to you as payment for….for a wish.”  
Sarah narrowed her eyes. “A wish? What kind of wish?”  
Toby sat down on the bathroom floor and tiredly stretched out his legs. He leaned back against the tub and sighed. He took in a deep breath preparing himself for what he was about to do. Then he told Sarah everything.  
He told her about the first night he met Jareth all those years ago, when he wished he could be quarterback of the football team and how Todd Adams had broke his leg leaving the position clear for Toby. He told her how Lancelot had disappeared the next day and how it had scared him but not enough that he didn’t call on the Goblin King a few years later to fix their parents’ marriage. That time he killed Heather Blair. He said how sorry he was for it and how he swore never to do it again but then a few weeks ago he made a wish that Angie would break up with Shane so that he could date her. He said he thought he could rein the Goblin King in, be able to somehow control him, but then when he showed up on Thanksgiving demanding Sarah in exchange for his wish, he knew he was in trouble. He tried to get him to take something else but that was when he pulled out the bracelet and convinced him to give it to her, saying it wouldn’t harm her in the slightest. He told her it was Jareth that gave him the book and that he was madly in love with her and just wanted the chance to prove it to her. He had believed him then but now he knew better. He knew the Goblin King had deceived him and was just using him to get to Sarah.   
Sarah sat across the floor from him, mouth open and eyes wide at his revelation. She didn’t interrupt him once during his twisted tale. When he finished, she still didn’t say anything for a long time. She sat there, running her hands through her hair that had come loose during their struggle. Finally, she spoke.  
“After all these years and he’s still……” her sentence tapered off. She focused her eyes sharply on her brother. “Are you sure that’s everything? You’re not forgetting to tell me something?”  
Toby nodded his head. He felt he had told her the most critical details. Sarah scrutinized him a little longer then licked her lips nervously.   
“Good,” she said. “Then his little plan didn’t work and now there’s nothing he can use against us.”  
Toby was confused. “But Sarah, I still owe him payment for my last wish!”  
“He said all you had to do was give me the bracelet right?”  
He blinked. “Right,” he agreed.  
“And so you have! There was nothing said about you taking it back!” She looked at him with a cunningness he didn’t think she could possess.   
Toby got the gist of her logic. He gave her the bracelet so technically he did uphold his part of the deal. Technically.  
“I don’t know, do you think that’ll work?” he doubted.  
“Oh yeah, it’ll work.” She said nodding vigorously. “From what I know about Ja- the Goblin King, he’s a sneaky cheat, but he’d never go back on his words. He’s a stickler by them. I can’t explain it but it’s like it would offend his royal dignity or something.” Her face grew solemn. “Under no circumstances are you ever to call on the Goblin King, for anything, ever again. I don’t care if there’s an asteroid threatening to destroy earth: You do not call for him! You understand? Don’t even use the ‘W’ word again!” Sarah got to her knees and crawled closer to him. She grasped his face between her hands.   
“Toby, I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m about to say to you,” her eyes bore into his with intensity. He saw fear and worry in them. “If he ever comes back, to tempt you or threaten you or whatever, I want you to say these words to him, exactly: You have no power over me. You got that?”  
You have no power over me. That was the last line the heroine (Sarah) had said to the Goblin King in the book! Though he couldn’t see how six little words could have any effect over a person like Jareth. He’d feel a lot more comfortable armed with crosses and wooden stakes.  
Sarah gripped his face tighter when he didn’t respond to her immediately. “You got that!” He nodded his head.  
“Say it!” she insisted vehemently.  
“You have no power over me!” he repeated.  
Sarah relaxed a little and released his face. Scooting backwards, she leaned against the opposite wall from Toby. She drew her legs up to her chest and rested her forearms atop her knees. She let he head loll backwards and off to the right side. It scared him to see his sister, sitting there like that. She looked numb and tired and defeated. It pained him to know he was to blame for their current situation.  
Plucking up what little resolve he had left, he spoke.   
“Sarah, do you hate me?” His voice was small even in his own ears.  
Sarah turned her head to look at him under tired lids. She furrowed her brow and her lips pursed. She studied him for a few moments then finally answered him.  
“No Toby, I don’t hate you,” she sighed wearily. “I could never hate you, you’re my brother. I know it’s not your fault. You were just a kid when he came along and tricked you. You didn’t mean any harm. You didn’t know what he was capable of.” She lifted her head from against the wall. “But you know now.”  
Toby said nothing. He just sat there with his sister in the despairing silence. They sat like that for what seemed like an eternity; neither speaking, neither moving. Finally Toby snapped out of his stupor. He looked at his watch and saw that it was five minutes until eleven. His curfew loomed before him menacingly.  
“Whoa, I’ve got to get out of here,” he said rising from his spot on the floor. Sarah didn’t move except to watch him stand up. “If I don’t get home by midnight, it’s my ass that will be turned into a pumpkin.”  
His statement seemed to pull Sarah out of her gloom as well. Her lips twitched with a smile and her eyes brightened.   
“Yeah, you better get going,” she agreed. She gestured to the velvet box that was lying on the floor. “Don’t forget to take…..that with you.”   
Toby bent over and picked up the box and put the bracelet that was still in his hand back inside it. “Don’t worry, as soon as I get home, I’m going to destroy this thing,” he promised.  
“Good.”  
Toby went to leave the bathroom. Before he got the door all the way open he turned back to Sarah.   
“Sarah, everything’s going to turn out okay, isn’t it?”  
She thought for a moment before answering. “Yeah, everything’s going to be okay Tobes,” she reassured him. “Just remember what I told you: You have no power over me.”  
Toby smiled at her and nodded. He stepped out of the bathroom then turned to her again. As he looked down at his sister, guilt washed over him. “Sarah, I’m sorry.”  
“I know you are,” was her simple answer.  
.  
.  
PART 6  
.  
Toby found Maggie sitting in the living room watching a movie on TV, seemingly oblivious to what had happened in the bathroom. As she saw him coming out the hallway, she stood up from the couch.  
“At last!” she exclaimed. “I thought you’d never come out of there! Is she okay now?”   
Toby’s lips thinned at her question. “Yeah, she’s okay now.”  
The two teenagers hastily left the apartment and once outside, strode quickly to his car. Once inside, it took him less than a minute to turn it on, back out of his stall and pull out onto the main road. The streets were mostly deserted, with the exception of the odd car passing them. It was five after eleven. He was going to make his curfew.  
Toby relaxed a little bit as he drove. He felt a great weight lifted off of him now that he confessed everything to Sarah. Though he was worried what kind of reaction Jareth would have at this turn of events, he felt sure that he wouldn’t be able to take his wish away or retaliate against him. After all, he did precisely what he asked him to do, he gave her the bracelet. In Toby’s mind, he fulfilled his side of the bargain.  
Toby was so deep in thought that he hadn’t noticed that Maggie had been talking to him the whole time. He just became aware of her prattling when she stopped, waiting for his response.  
“Um, er, what was that?”   
Maggie rolled her eyes in exasperation.   
“I said, this was one heck of a night!” she repeated.  
Toby smiled. “Yeah it was,” he agreed. He thought back to the near scuffle at the nightclub. “Hey, sorry bout that scene back at the club.”  
“Don’t apologize, you were great!” she spewed. “If some guy ever talked to a sister of mine like that, if I had a sister, I would have done the same thing!”  
He felt little consolation from her words. “Yeah, but I got us thrown out.”  
Maggie shrugged, “So what? It was still the best night ever!” Toby was glad she was taking things so well. “Besides, it wasn’t all a loss, I got two phone numbers.”  
Toby’s mouth dropped open in shock. He cast a quick glance across the seat at her. “You mean you got Tyler’s number and his friend’s?”  
The junior got a broad smile on her face that confirmed what Toby had assumed was true. He returned her smile.  
“Why Maggie Gillepsie, you little tease!” he chastised her.  
She shrugged her shoulders. “What?” she asked innocently. “A girl likes a little variety.”  
The two teenagers burst out laughing at her last statement. For Toby, it was as if someone opened the pressure valve on all the stress he had building up from the evening. It was good to talk and laugh, like a normal teenager, about completely non-consequential stuff like getting a guy’s phone number.   
Their laughter died down after a bit and they rode in a comfortable silence for awhile. Toby was busy in his mind retracing their route to get back home, straight through two red lights, then take a left at the third then straight through to the exit onto the bypass. He calculated he would have Maggie home at about twenty til twelve and he would be strolling in his door right on time.   
“You know, I’m happy for you guys.”  
Toby was so startled by her confusing statement he almost missed the light turn green. He proceeded though the intersection.   
“What?” he asked.  
“You and Angie,” she explained. “I’m happy you two are together.”  
Toby looked at her quizzically, not knowing where this was coming from. Maggie could see his bewilderment clearly written on his face.  
“Oh, I wasn’t too happy about it at first,” she admitted, “I’m not sure if you knew this but I had a crush on you since the beginning of this year.” Toby said nothing. “It really hurt when I found out you guys were dating, but you know what? You two are good together. You two make sense together. A lot more than you and I would have.”   
He didn’t know what to say. It was one of the kindest and most honest things anyone had ever said to him. Her honesty, made him want to be honest.  
“Well, you know Maggie, you’re not so bad yourself,” he said. “And who knows? Maybe if I never met Angie, I might have asked you out.”  
Maggie laughed. “Yeah, right.” She scowled. “Are you sure you’re not drunk?”  
Toby laughed with her. “Not unless I got a contact buzz off that drink he threw at me!”  
She smiled as she pinched her nose. “Yeah, whew! You can smell it. What was it he threw on you?”  
“Beats me, but it sure burned like hell!”  
Toby was coming up to the second intersection. Go straight, then turn left at the next light. His light had just turned green before he pulled up to the intersection so he kept his car going at its same speed. Up ahead he could see the light where he wanted to make his turn.  
“You know Maggie, we all need to get together and do something sometime. You can even bring along one of your Glendale boy –”  
“OH MY GOD TOBY, LOOK OUT!”  
That was the last thing he heard before her screams were drowned out by the sickening sound of metal crunching on metal. Toby lurched in his seat as he was thrown against his door, his head making contact with the window, shattering glass everywhere. His seatbelt kept him from bashing his head into the steering wheel as his car spun almost a hundred and eighty degrees and he heard a kind of cartoonish ‘POP!’ as one of his tires blew. He felt a stabbing pain in his right thigh. His car finally came to a jarring stop with a grating metal sound.  
Toby sat there for a moment in chaos as his senses slowly returned to him. The first thing he felt was horrible pain and moistness on his forehead along his hair line. He reached up and tenderly touched the spot. As he pulled his hand away and saw his fingers were covered in blood. It was then he realized he was just in an accident.   
The second sense he recovered was his hearing. Gradually he tuned in to the blaring sound of a car horn. ‘Is that mine?’ he thought dazedly. He slowly comprehended that it wasn’t his that was honking but the guy’s that had ran into him. He wondered why the other driver was laying on the horn so long. After a while, the horn began to die down until eventually it stopped altogether. Toby turned his head to assess the damage. He felt a sharp pain in his neck as he turned. There was glass everywhere and his steering wheel had a very noticeable bend to it where his leg had slammed into it. Then he looked across the seat to ask Maggie if she was okay.  
She wasn’t.  
Maggie was still fastened in but she was unconscious and her body laid crumpled in the seatbelt. Toby panicked.   
“MAGGIE!” he screamed.   
He undid his seat belt at super human speed and quickly reached across and undid hers. As soon as the belt loosened, she slumped forward, like a puppet without any strings. He carefully sat her back up in her seat trying to be sure not to jostle her. Her head drooped down and he could see in the back of her neck a little bone jutting, nearly threatening to pierce the skin.   
“oh no, oh no, OH NO, OH NO, OHNO, OHNO, NONONONONO!” he started to scream.   
Toby pulled the girl to him, cradling her back in his chest. He grabbed her under the arms up by her chest and began to pull her out of the car. Once he got her free, he carefully laid her on the ground next to his mangled vehicle. Her head lolled to the side at an unnatural angle. He gently took her head in his hands and placed it in his lap. There was a small trickle of blood coming out her nose.  
By now, a car had pulled over. A man and his girlfriend got out of the car and rushed to the help the teenagers. Toby looked up at them and saw the horror on their faces.   
“Somebody call for help!” he yelled out, his voice cracking. Tears were streaming down his face and snot was dripping from his nose. “Somebody help her!” he cried.   
The man ran back to his car and dug around his console until he found his cell phone. He flipped it open and dialed 9-1-1.   
“There’s been an accident on Canton and Bulger!” the man spoke urgently in the phone. “Three people are injured, I think one of them is dead- ”  
“SHE’S NOT DEAD!” Toby screamed at him. The man stared at him aghast. Toby looked back down at Maggie’s face. Her eyes were closed, she looked as though she were sleeping. “She can’t be dead,” he bawled.  
The man on the phone finished the call. He took a few cautious steps closer to Toby. “An ambulance is going to be here real soon.” Toby just nodded his head and continued to cradle her head in his lap. By that time another car had pulled up.   
“What happened?” he heard the anxious voice of another man.  
“There’s been some kind of bad accident.” Somewhere in the background he heard the woman crying.  
“You don’t want to go over there!” the first man warned. “The guy in the Jag didn’t make it.”  
By this time Toby could hear the distant howl of sirens coming closer. In a matter of moments a new man in a blue shirt was beside him.  
“Come on son, we got to get you checked out,” the man told him gently as he tried to help him up.  
Toby looked in the paramedic’s face, his face wet with his tears. “But what about Maggie?” he wanted to know.  
The man gingerly moved her head from his lap so he could help Toby to his feet. “My colleague is going to see to her, I need to check you out right now.” The teenaged boy looked trustingly at him. “She’ll be okay, you need to come with me now.”  
Toby did what he was told and went with the paramedic to the back of the ambulance. It was the first time he could see the total damage of the wreck.   
His stomach dropped when he saw it. The whole passenger side of his Nova was caved in and his front side was resting on a bent up rim. The side windows had been smashed, leaving glass sprayed across the pavement. But the other car definitely got the worst of it. The front of the car had been pushed back, leaving the hood looking like a balled up wad of aluminum foil. The windshield was smashed and the roof had caved from the impact. A black tarp was hanging down over the driver’s side door preventing him from seeing anymore.  
Police lights were flashing everywhere and another ambulance pulled up. By now they had flares burning at both sides of the intersection and an officer was directing traffic around the scene of the accident. Another police officer was talking to the couple that had first stopped. The man was describing what he had seen, using his hands while he talked. The woman didn’t seem to be much use at all. She just stood there beside her boyfriend crying.  
“Okay, let’s take a look at that cut.”   
Toby was brought back to himself as the paramedic examined the cut on his forehead. He looked back to the spot where Maggie laid. Two paramedics were kneeling down beside her blocking his view of what was going on.  
“I got her out of the car,” Toby blubbered as the man was cleaning his cut. “She was knocked out so I got her out of the car and laid her down on the ground. Was that right?”  
“Yeah kid,” the man agreed, “You did good. Now try to be still for me.”  
Toby sat quietly as he let the paramedic tend to him. He watched as the other two paramedics hovered over Maggie. Then one finally got up and went to the back of the other ambulance to retrieve something. Toby assumed he was getting a stretcher so they could get Maggie in the ambulance and off to the hospital. Instead, the man pulled out a black tarp. Toby watched in anguish as the man walked back over to his companion and the unfurled the plastic shroud. He watched as he shook it out and how it fluttered to the ground, lighting on her body. He stared at that black tarp, that now had a form, knowing that the form under it was Maggie. That’s when the screaming began. It took him a while until he realized where the screaming was coming from.  
It was coming from him.


	10. Chapter 10

PART 1  
.  
Toby sat, tired and dazed, in the hospital’s emergency waiting room. Now that the immediate rush of his arrival was over, he was sentenced to an eternity of waiting until he could be escorted back to x-ray. He sat slumped in his seat, not moving, not thinking, his psyche numb and frayed.  
His senses, for the most part, tried to divert his mind from the traumatic event. They seemed heightened by his surroundings. The fluorescent lights stung his eyes, which were red and sensitive from crying. The smell of anti-septic and industrial cleaner flooded his nose, making him light headed and faintly nauseas. His ears picked up the distant but steady hum of a floor polisher being used in some far off hall. He noticed all of these things and by concentrating on them was able to disengage from the events that had led him up to this point.  
Upon arriving at the hospital he was promptly greeted by two orderlies who met the ambulance at the entrance with a wheelchair. Toby initially declined the wheelchair, proclaiming he could walk just fine. The male orderly (who was a middle aged man that reminded Toby of his one uncle) explained to him it was hospital policy and persuaded Toby to accept the ride. As he was being wheeled to the triage station, the second orderly (who was a short woman with long, curly red hair and wore glasses) asked him who he would like them to contact. Toby gave her his home phone number and Sarah’s number to call.  
Once they reached their destination, he was swiftly examined by the triage nurse who was mainly concerned with the pain he was experiencing in his neck. After an initial exam, she fitted him with a neck brace and walked him to the nurse in registration.  
The nurse at the registration desk asked Toby the standard questions; name, date of birth, insurance. Toby answered her questions dully, mind far away from where he was at. The only thing keeping him even vaguely grounded to the situation was listening to the nurse’s fingers clicking over the keyboard after each of his answers.  
“Do you have any allergies?” she read off to him from her computer screen.  
“No.”  
Click, click, click, click.  
“Have you ever had any surgeries?”  
“No.”  
Click, click, click, click.  
“Do you know the date of your last tetanus shot?”  
“No.”  
Click, click, click, click.  
As the list drug on, Toby began to find the nurse’s monotone voice and incessant clicking on the keys maddening. Why couldn’t they just look at his damn neck and then leave him alone? He wanted nothing more than to go home, crawl into his bed, pull his blanket over his head and succumb to the black refuge of sleep. But instead, he was stuck in this infernal place, answering a bunch of stupid questions. His nerves were shot and with each question he became more and more agitated.  
“What’s the reason for your visit to the ER tonight?”  
Toby stared at her unable to comprehend her absurdity. Did she not see him when he sat down? The neck brace, the cut on his forehead, his torn clothing, what did she think he was there for?  
“Take a good look at me lady- what the hell do you think I’m here for?” he snapped at her. The nurse peered at him, shocked, from around her computer monitor, fingers still hovering over the keyboard. Her mouth dropped open in offended disbelief. “I’m wearing a damn neck brace and there’s blood all over my head! You think that maybe I might have just been in a wreck?”  
Her mouth clamped shut and her face reddened from his outburst. She stared at her screen as her fingers worked over the keys. Once she was finished, the printer that was on the desk beside her started to hum as it turned out several sheets of paper. She retrieved them from the tray and slid them across the desk.  
“I need you to sign at the bottom of the first page saying you agree to treatment,” she said brusquely.  
Toby scribbled his name on the line she indicated. He slid the papers back across to her, which she took without even looking at him. Then she told him to give her his wrist so she could attach a medical tag. Without thinking, Toby held up his right arm with the club’s wristband on it. The nurse immediately saw the band. He could tell by the look on her face what conclusion she jumped to. Cursing to himself, he retracted his right wrist and offered her his left. With a cryptic smile, she put his medical tag on and told him to return to the waiting room.  
And there he sat, in a sort of a limbo, waiting.  
It seemed like he was waiting an infinity (really it was only twenty minutes) when something finally did happen. As he sat trying to block out the horrors of the night he noticed two police officers enter the building and was immediately approached by the nurse from registration. She spoke to them quickly in low tones and at one instance pointed Toby out to the police. The police officers cast Toby an undecipherable look and nodded to the nurse which afterwards she retreated back to her desk. He felt a hanging sense of doom as the police moved towards him.  
“Toby Williams?” the one officer announced once they were within a few feet of him. Toby eyed them cautiously.  
“Yeah that’s me,” he answered.  
The officer that addressed him gave him a smile. It was meant to be reassuring but reminded Toby of the smile his pediatrician would give him right before administering a particularly painful shot.  
“I’m Officer Herrera and this is Officer Kimble,” the other police officer nodded. “We need to get some information from you about your accident.”  
Toby flinched as if someone hit him. The last thing he wanted to talk about was the wreck and Maggie’s……condition.  
“Do I have to do this now?” he looked at them with weary eyes. “I mean, can’t we do this tomorrow?”  
Officer Herrera shook his head sadly, “I know this is a difficult time for you but it’s very important we get all the details while you can still clearly remember them.” He sat down in the chair next to Toby and pulled out a pen and pad. “We only have a few questions, it won’t take long at all.”  
Toby sighed and repositioned himself in his chair to look more directly at the police officer. When Herrera saw he was ready, he proceeded. “To the best of your ability, can you remember what happened?”  
“Yeah,” he said, “We were going down Canton and this guy ran a red light and hit us.”  
“Do you know how fast you were going?”  
Toby thought for a moment. “About twenty-five, maybe thirty miles per hour. I’m not real sure.”  
Officer Herrera scribbled something down in his notepad. “Are you aware the speed limit through there is twenty-five?”  
Toby paused, uncertain where the police officer was going with this.  
“Yeah,” he agreed, “I know.”  
“Where were you headed from?” he asked Toby.  
“We just left my sister’s apartment.”  
“Where were you earlier this evening?”  
Toby could see the red flags now. “My sister took us to Blue- but we were just there dancing and stuff.” he told them, feeling a need to clarify that.  
Herrera nodded and wrote some more. Officer Kimble took a step closer to Toby. Now it was his turn.  
“Did you imbibe in any alcohol this evening?”  
Toby looked up in shock and horror. They thought he was drinking!  
“NO!” he denied strongly, “All we did was dance!”  
Both officers’ eyes were on him. Officer Herrera wore a carefully neutral look on his face but Kimble’s expression was one of suspicion.  
“Look, if you’ve had something to drink tonight, its best if you tell us about it now,” Herrera explained to him in a calm voice. “If it comes out later that you were drinking, things will go a lot harder on you.”  
“I wasn’t drinking!” he insisted. Toby was becoming frantic. Fear clawed at his insides. He felt like he was being cornered.  
“Toby, the nurses here reported your eyes were bleary and bloodshot when you came in,” Officer Kimble stated matter-of-factly. “One smelt alcohol on you. I can smell the alcohol even from here.”  
“Some guy at the club threw a drink on me!” he explained desperately. Oh God, he thought, the nightmare was getting worse. “My eyes were red because I’d been crying! I didn’t have a drop of anything tonight, I swear!”  
“TOBY!”  
Toby started at the sound of his name being shouted from across the lobby. He looked up, as did the two officers, and saw the most welcome sight in the world.  
“SARAH!” he called back to her.  
Toby carefully rose from his seat and shambled towards Sarah as she rushed over to him. She threw her arms around him, careful of his neck brace, and drew him into a tight embrace.  
“Oh my God Toby, are you okay?” she pulled back from him a little to look him in the face, her eyes wide. Toby could see she had cleaned much of her smeared mascara off from earlier but there were still light smudges around her eyes. “I got a call that you had been in a car accident and I got here as quick as I could! What happened?”  
Toby dragged in a deep breath, preparing himself. He struggled to maintain a semblance of composure but the weight of the night’s ordeal was more than he could bear.  
“Maggie’s dead!” he broke down. Sarah’s face twisted in grief and she pulled him back into her arms trying to comfort him. “This guy hit us and she had this bone poking out in the back of her neck and I tried to help her but it was too late and she died!” he started to shake with the force of his sobs.  
“Oh honey, it’s alright,” Sarah soothed him, patting his back. He let out a mournful wail. “It’s okay Toby, let it out. You just let it all out.”  
The two stood there while Toby openly wept in Sarah’s arms, not caring if anyone saw him. Gradually, his sobs began to die down but he still remained with his arms tightly woven around his sister, her strength the only thing keeping him up.  
“C’mon Toby, let’s sit you down before you fall over,” Sarah suggested. Looking over to where she had first seen him, she finally noticed the police. “Why are the police here?” she asked lowly, concern written on her face.  
“One of the nurses called them and said I had been drinking,” he answered back just as quietly. Sarah said nothing more as they walked over to where he had been sitting but the expression on her face changed from one of concern to one of guarded wariness.  
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting anything?” she asked the officers with a hint of enmity in her voice. Before Toby could say anything, Officer Herrera interjected.  
“That’s okay Miss,” -again with the pediatric smile- “I’m Officer Herrera and this is Officer Kimble. You are-?”  
“Sarah Williams,” she told them, “I’m his sister.”  
“Pleased to meet you,” he said with customary politeness. “We were just going over some of the details of the accident.”  
“Uh-huh,” Sarah nodded in understanding. “Tell me Officer Herrera, do you always make it a habit to question minors without a legal guardian present?”  
The two officers were taken aback by her statement, as was Toby. What was she doing? They already suspected him of being under the influence; she didn’t need to go making things worse by pissing them off! He looked at his sister fearfully. Sarah stared at the police officers with resolve. Herrera addressed her again.  
“Miss Williams, it is Miss isn’t it?” She nodded. “It’s not like that. This isn’t any kind of formal questioning we were just getting his side of things.” His tone and smile were meant to disarm her. “Don’t worry, no charges have been filed, he hasn’t even been Mirandized.”  
“Oh thank goodness!” she sighed with exaggerated relief. “Then any excited utterance he might have made can’t be used against him.”  
“If you prefer us not to ask your brother any questions, perhaps you might be more inclined to answer some yourself,” the other officer cut in. Kimble leveled a daunting look at her. “Your brother mentioned that you had taken him to Blue tonight. Can you explain why he smells of alcohol?”  
The question was meant to unbalance her but Sarah answered him easily. “Yeah, some creep at the bar threw a drink on him.”  
The two officers gave each other quick glances. Her answer had been consistent with the one Toby gave them earlier and lent credibility to his account. Not willing to be derailed, Kimble tried another ploy.  
“Have you been drinking alcohol this evening?”  
Toby grimaced slightly. He had seen first hand how this tag team worked. Remembering Sarah’s drunken episode from earlier, he was worried that his sister was now up the proverbial creek.  
“Yes I have,” she admitted without even batting an eyelash. “That’s why I took a cab here.” The look on Officer Kimble’s face was priceless. Sarah plowed on unwaveringly, “I’m curious, did you guys bother asking the other driver any of these questions?”  
Herrera gave a somber look. “The other driver didn’t make it.”  
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” she remarked coolly, “But my brother’s not responsible.”  
“Toby Williams?”  
Everybody looked up at the orderly who had called his name. It was the short female orderly who had met him at the entrance. She watched the group with uncertainty, aware on some base level that she had interrupted something very significant. Toby raised his hand.  
“That’s me.”  
“They’re ready for you back in x-ray.” She had brought a wheelchair with her to escort him back in. Toby could have leapt for joy, neck brace and all, at the orderly getting him out of that tense situation. He rose from his seat with some help from Sarah and made his way to the her and she helped him into the wheelchair. He looked up at her.  
“Can my sister come with me?”  
The red haired woman smiled kindly at him. “I’m afraid not sweetie, it’s against the rules.” He felt a little downhearted by her answer. Sarah placed her hand on his shoulder.  
“Don’t worry Tobes, I’ll be right here when you get back,” Sarah promised him.  
Toby gave her a weak smile. The nurse turned to wheel him back to x-ray. “If mom and dad get here before I get back out, tell them I’m okay!” he called back to her as he was wheeled away through the double doors.  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
It was almost one o’clock when they finally brought Toby back out to his family in the waiting room. His mom and dad were indeed there by then and they were all sitting in the vicinity Toby had been occupying with the police officers (who were now gone) almost an hour before. They all looked up anxiously when the double doors began to part. The first face he saw was that of his mother, tear stained and worried.  
“Oh Toby!” she cried in relief. His parents and sister hurried up to him. He was still in the wheelchair. His mother bent down and gave him a tight hug. “Oh honey, are you alright? We were all so worried!”  
“I’m fine mom, just sore is all,” he assured her. When his mom finally released him and stepped back he could see fresh tears in her eyes. He looked to his dad who wore a worried expression on his face but from what he could tell had managed to hold back his tears. Sarah’s face was cleaner now, it seemed sometime during his x-ray she had stopped in the bathroom and cleaned off the remnants of her make-up. But no matter what state their faces were in, Toby had never been so glad to see them in all his life.  
“What did the doctor say?” his mother asked him. It was at that moment the doctor joined the Williams family. She walked in wearing baby blue scrubs and holding release papers.  
“Mr. and Mrs. Williams?” she questioned, looking at his parents. His father confirmed that’s who they were. “I’m Dr. Nixon. I examined your son’s x-rays and there’s no damage to any of the vertebrae in his neck. However, there might have been some injury to the soft tissue, which is really nothing to worry about it generally resolves itself in a couple days. So have him take it easy for a day or two. Ice may be applied for the first 24 hours, followed by gentle active movement. Treat with Motrin for the pain. If the pain worsens or spreads, bring him back in and we’ll do a CT scan on him.”  
His mother nodded her head, relief overflowing her face. His dad let out a relieved sigh and Sarah gave a frail smile.  
“He’s a very lucky young man,” Dr. Nixon went on. “I’ve seen a lot of accidents but very rarely do I see one where the victim is able to walk away from it with just some cuts and bruises. Particularly one of this magnitude. You must have someone watching over you.”  
Toby knew that the doctor’s words were meant to be comforting but they weren’t. Lucky would have been Maggie surviving the crash. Why wasn’t someone watching over her? Why couldn’t Maggie have been the one to walk away? While he certainly didn’t want to be dead, he would have been willing to gone through just about any injury if it meant she would have lived. But as fate would have it, Maggie was gone and Toby was left being the lucky one. Right at that moment, he didn’t feel very lucky.  
Once his parents signed the release forms the tired little family all packed into his dad’s car and headed for home. His father drove while Toby sat in the front passenger seat so he could stretch out and be more comfortable. His mother and Sarah sat in the back seats. His parents and Sarah spoke about everyday things, careful to steer the conversation away from anything to do with the accident. Occasionally, his mother would ask him if he needed anything to make him more comfortable, like a something for his head or if he wanted the seat reclined. Toby would decline and the conversation would return to the weather or work.  
When they reached Sarah’s apartment, she wrapped her coat tightly around her and exited the car after bidding her good nights. She stood at Toby’s window as he rolled it down.  
“Night baby brother,” she said as she leaned in as gave him a light hug and kiss on the cheek. “You get some rest and I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” She softly brushed his hair away from his cut. “I love you.”  
Toby reciprocated her sentiments and Sarah gave him another kiss. Then she turned and walked towards her building. They idled by the curb until they saw she made it inside then pulled away and headed for home.  
The ride home was quiet and solemn; the evening had been a trial for everyone. Toby drifted in and out of sleep during the forty minute drive home, waking every so often when the car would hit a bump or make a sharp turn. They finally pulled into the driveway at five after two in the morning.  
The weary family departed the car and filed slowly into the house. Once inside his mother again began fussing over him, offering to make up his bed to accommodate his condition. Toby insisted that it wouldn’t be necessary but Karen Williams wasn’t about to be dissuaded from her mothering duties. A compromise was only reached when Toby agreed to taking two Motrin and using a cold compress for the night. He dutifully swallowed the pills with the water his mother supplied and took the Igloo Pak she had wrapped in a hand towel for him. Before he retired to bed, both his parents hugged him tenderly and told him they loved him.  
Toby trudged slowly up the steps towards his room, now faced with the prospect a long night ahead him with only his thoughts and darkness. He tried to push all his thoughts out of his mind, trying instead to concentrate on his numerous aches and pains. But he knew, once he was alone in his room, lying in his bed surrounded by darkness, he would be at the mercy of his thoughts. Perhaps, just for the night, he would be more at ease with his desk lamp on.  
Toby’s door creaked softly as he pushed it open and stepped into his shadowy bedroom. He left the door open so the light from the hallway could seep in and he could see his way to his desk more easily. His eyes grew accustomed to the dimness of the room almost instantly and he made his way towards his destination. He no sooner took a step towards his desk when he heard a noise from across his room. He stopped in his tracks, his ears straining to listen. There it was again, a kind of scraping sound, but this time it didn’t stop and it was getting closer. It wasn’t a scraping either, the noise was more like something rolling across his hardwood floor. Panicked, Toby hurried to his desk and flipped on his desk light in a desperate bid to stop whatever was coming towards him.  
Light flooded the room. He swung his head in all directions, despite the loud complaint his sore neck was making, looking for the source of the noise. The noise had now stopped corresponding to a light bump he felt at the side of his sneaker. Toby took a hasty step backwards when he felt the unwelcome contact and stared frightfully down at his feet. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as he gasped. The towel and Igloo Pak fell from his numb hands.  
There, on the floor where his feet once stood, was a crystal.  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
‘He’s here!’ his mind screamed.  
Toby could feel the sweat form on his brow and the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. His eyes swum madly in their sockets trying to detect the owner of the crystal orb. He took a few cautious steps backwards towards his door, preparing to bolt once he got close enough. As if sensing what was going through his head, the door slammed shut on it’s own with an ominous BAM! Toby leapt to the door. He twisted the doorknob and pulled as hard as he could. The door wouldn’t budge. He was about to start beating on it and screaming when he heard the crystal behind him begin rolling again. He glanced over his shoulder, terrified, and watched as the orb rolled across the floor to disappear under his bed.  
He turned, his back to the door, and stared at his bed. He again considered screaming out for his parents’ help and almost did exactly that. But on the heels of that overwhelming urge was a whisper of a warning in the back of his head cautioning him about dragging them into this. Whatever was about to happen, it was better that it just happen to him and not his parents. His sense of protectiveness awoke his courage. Taking a deep breath he slowly walked towards his bed. His eyes were trained where the crystal had disappeared underneath it. His blanket obstructed all but a two inch view from the bottom of it to the floor.  
‘That’s where he is,’ his mind jabbered wildly, ‘that’s where Jareth’s hiding.’ The thought of Jareth hiding under his bed like some childhood boogeyman would have seemed absurd to him at a more rational time. But at that moment, as he advanced cautiously towards his bed, the comparison seemed right. Jareth was a boogeyman, a real life boogeyman. He was the Goblin King. He stole children and murdered those unlucky enough to cross his path and no amount of locked closet doors or night lights could stop him.  
Toby halted a few feet away from his destination, feet frozen to their spot. This was all the closer her dared to get. His fear was mounting and he knew this was the moment of truth. Taking a calming breath, he bent closer to the bed, his trembling hand reaching for the bottom of his blanket.  
“Really, to reduce me to some childish monster lurking under your bed? How unoriginal.”  
Toby started at the sound of the voice behind him and let out a yelp. He spun around so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash and was greeted by who he thought only seconds ago was skulking under his bed, Jareth.  
His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. His mouth opened and closed several times as he attempted to speak but failed. Jareth stood watching his pitiful efforts, his face devoid of emotion. But his eyes held the force of a hurricane. Toby shuddered as he sensed this would not be a pleasant visit. Jareth cocked his head to the side, a few strands of hair falling across his face.  
“You don’t seem pleased to see me,” the Goblin King said as he peered at him through his platinum hair. “I wonder why that is?” he pondered. “After all, I’ve been nothing but a kind and most generous guest during our visits. In the past, you’ve been more than anxious for my company but this night you appear fearful of my presence. Why is that?”  
Toby’s mind raced not knowing what he should say. Trying to ignore the dread that was forming in the pit of his stomach, he voiced the first thought that popped into his head.  
“What are you doing here?” His voice sounded brittle.  
“Oh, you know perfectly well why I’m here,” Jareth purred dangerously, flashing his teeth. “Our bargain. It seems that you still have to fulfill your side of the deal.”  
Toby stiffened at its mention. In the back of his head he knew the Goblin King wasn’t going to take kindly to his duplicity but he wasn’t about to back down now. Standing as straight as he could he squared his shoulders and looked Jareth directly in the eye.  
“I have fulfilled my side of the deal,” he proclaimed bolder than he really felt, hoping Jareth bought into his act. “The way I remember it, all I had to do was give my sister the bracelet, and I did. You said nothing about taking it back.” he tried arguing with Sarah’s logic.  
Jareth’s eyes blazed for a moment and his upper lip curled back from his teeth, showing off those jagged canines. But the anger in his eyes quickly passed and he turned his snarl into a silky grin.  
“That is hardly sincere to the spirit of our arrangement,” he scolded mockingly. “You do remember our arrangement don’t you? My help with you attaining the female of your heart’s desire in exchange for getting that shiny bauble around your sister’s pretty little wrist. I upheld my side of the bargain. You still have yet to deliver Sarah to me.”  
“I never agreed to that!” Toby objected. “You said all I had to do was give her the bracelet! That’s all I was supposed to do! You never - ”  
“Your lapse in memory does you no credit,” he cut in harshly. “True, your side of the bargain was to give the bracelet to Sarah but if you recall only in her wearing it relieved you of the debt.” Jareth strode closer to him. “As it stands, you still owe me for your wish. Or did you forget the first thing I taught you: everything comes at a price.”  
Toby felt a cold prickle go up his spine. Jareth had tricked him with his words! His stomach dipped and he thought frantically how he was going to get out of this.  
The Goblin King stopped directly in front of him, only inches between their faces. He couldn’t avoid looking into those mismatched eyes now. What he saw made him shiver. He had read somewhere that “the eyes are the windows to the soul”. If that were true, then Toby was staring into an empty room. His gaze still locked with Jareth’s, Toby took several retreating steps backwards.  
“You tried to cheat me out of my payment,” Jareth accused, taking a menacing step towards him in pursuit. “You sought to deny me of what I most desire. Did you think I wouldn’t demand what was rightfully owed me? Did you think there would be no consequences?” His words were edged like a knife, his deadly intent evident in his tone.  
Toby kept retreating as the Goblin King continued to advance on him, the futility of his situation overcoming him. He could see no way out of his dilemma. There was no escape. No amount of excuses or negotiating would save him. Toby took a gamble and he lost. He saw, with sudden clarity, his impending demise. He was crazy to think he could outwit Jareth, think he could beat him. He was no match for king of the goblins. He was three moves ahead of Toby before he even knew they were playing the game! What kind of chance did he stand against a person like that? He was too clever, too crafty. He was just too powerful.  
Powerful.  
Power!  
Sarah’s words shot through his head as if harnessed to lightning. His heart beat faster with exhilaration. He had one card left to play! Without a moment to lose, he shouted out his salvation:  
“YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!”  
His words stopped Jareth dead in his tracks. He stood frozen, giving Toby an astonished look. For a split second, Toby was overcome with relief. He did it! The words worked! He had beaten the Goblin King!  
Toby expected him to retreat in a flurry of curses and glitter, never to return. But nothing happened. Before he had a chance to repeat himself, Jareth broke the silence with a cold voice.  
“What did I tell you about believing everything you read?”  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
With the slightest flick of Jareth’s hand, a searing pain, like none he ever felt before, coursed through him. The pain twisted his body backwards until his legs gave out from under him. Toby collapsed to the floor, his body rigid and his back arched in excruciating torture. He screamed out in anguish willing someone, anyone, to hear him and save him from his torment. But nobody could hear his screams. Nobody except the Goblin King.  
Jareth cruelly smiled down at the suffering boy as he circled his writhing body. “I think you’ll find that I do have power over you,” he taunted with malicious glee. “You gave me that power when you accepted my gifts.” Jareth reached his open hand down towards Toby. He curled it into a fist and drew it back. Toby felt himself rise off the floor as if being pulled by a line, until he was up-righted, his feet dangling in the air inches off the floor.  
“In fact, I have power over a great many things,” he proceeded, his eyes squinting in wicked amusement, “Earth and air, time and dreams, the stars and the night,” His lips pulled up in a sly smirk. “Even death.”  
Toby knew his last claim wasn’t one of idle bragging. He knew Jareth well enough to know that it’s mentioning held a hidden allusion. It was possible he was reminding him of what he had done to Heather those few years ago. But Toby was perfectly aware of his involvement and it seemed unlikely of him to reiterate his past deeds. There was something else he was trying to subliminally convey, something he wanted Toby to discern for himself…..  
Then Toby knew, with undeniable certainty, what Jareth was alluding to.  
“You killed Maggie.” He managed to rasp through clenched teeth.  
Jareth’s smirk broadened into a spiteful grin. Toby could read in his face that he had guessed the truth. A heart wrenching despair filled him which was immediately followed by uncontrollable rage. He screamed out in his fury.  
“You son of a bitch! You killed Maggie!” He strained against his invisible bonds that held him paralyzed and in pain, striving to break free and smash his head in, but he couldn’t budge and inch.  
Jareth watched his attempts with bored interest. “I am no one’s son, bitch or otherwise. As for this Maggie,” Toby grimaced in rage as his mouth defiled her name, “Well, everyone dies. I only have the honor of choosing the time and place for a select few.”  
“You sick bastard!” he ground out with as much venom as he could. “You had no fucking right to murder her-!”  
A jolt a pain ran though his body and cut off the rest of what he was saying. Toby screamed as all his nerve endings sizzled with this new onslaught. When he could focus again, Jareth was in front of him, his face livid with anger.  
“Then you should have taken better care of your friend!” he hissed fiercely. He was so close that Toby could feel his hot breath on his face. “But why be so modest?” he sneered, “After all, her death wasn’t just my doing. You killed your friend the moment you crossed me.”  
Toby was stunned by his acclamation. “You said you wouldn’t hurt anybody because of my wish!” he protested. “You promised nobody would get hurt! You gave me your word!”  
Toby’s outburst fanned Jareth’s anger yet again and he was rewarded with another burst of stabbing pain. Jareth glared at him, is face distorted in fury, eyes aflame with an inner fire.  
“You dare to use my own words against me?” his quaking voice punctuated with anger. “You dare reproach me for what you have brought about through your own actions! I have remained true and faithful to the words that bound me to my oath!”  
“But you said -”  
Jareth cut him off, “That no harm will befall anyone due to your wish and so none has. You bought that poor girl’s death when you betrayed me to your sister.”  
The words Jareth spoke those many years ago when he was only eleven reverberated through his head: You are not to breathe a word of it to anyone…. Otherwise the consequences could be most dire….  
“I can see that your memory has returned to you,” Jareth’s voice interrupted his recollection. “It’s a pity you didn’t remember it sooner when you were spilling our little secret to sweet Sarah.” His hand struck out and seized Toby by the neck, jerking him closer still. His throat burned where the gloved hand grasped him. He tried to struggle from the unrelenting grip that Jareth had him in but it was useless. The Goblin King’s lips peeled back in contempt, “Be thankful it was Sarah that you betrayed me to. Otherwise, their blood would be on your hands as well.”  
Jareth gave a tight squeeze to enforce his words then hurled his victim away from him. Toby’s back slammed into the wall and stayed there, pinned to it by Jareth’s magic. Another upsurge of electricity ran through him. Toby kept his teeth tightly clenched, not willing to cry out for the Goblin King’s satisfaction. He sent another blast through the tortured boy’s body. Toby’s eyes closed as he gritted his teeth and only a groan escaped his throat. Jareth seemed impressed. A ghost of a smile lingered around the corners of his lips.  
“Oh please, feel free to scream all you like,” he jeered, “No one can hear you. I have cast a dampening spell on this room every time I’ve been here. So scream until the rafters fall, there is no one to help you.” He strolled a few yards away from him.  
“Yet all is not lost,” he assured him, his voice like the rubber coating around a cyanide pill. He reached into his dark cloak and pulled out another crystal from its depths. The crystal glowed and seemed to grow in his hand. “Despite your betrayal, I shall still be generous with you. I will give you the opportunity to redeem yourself.” The globe ceased its glowing and began to shrink. When the light died back, there in his black leathered hand was a red and silver box.  
Toby’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of the cursed bracelet.  
“Never,” he swore. He wouldn’t be drawn back into Jareth’s plots again. “I will never trap my sister for you!  
“Why all the brotherly loyalty? After all, she showed you none when she wished you away.” he mocked with a lopsided grin. Suddenly all semblance of joviality drained from his features. “I warned you that my gifts came at a price yet you still accepted them. Now that you have danced your tune, it’s time to pay the piper.” He threatened. “You will do this. To disobey me will be more painful and horrible than you can imagine.”  
To emphasize his point, he shot another bolt of fiery pain through his body. This time he did scream, the pain was beyond what his ragged body could take. The part of his brain that ministered to his self preservation yammered to take the deal, do whatever Jareth tells him, anything to stop the pain. But the honorable side refused to give in. This was his mistake and the consequences were his alone to bear.  
“I will not hand over my sister to the likes of you!” he yelled out through his pain. “Payment or not! You can have your damn wishes back, but you’re not getting Sarah!”  
Jareth merely smiled at him, providing Toby no measure of comfort. “The gifts are yours to return,” he explained vindictively, “But I will still have my payment.”  
The Goblin King turned to the side and raised his arm and pointed a long, slender finger at the digital alarm clock sitting on his desk. It flashed 2:23am. He looked back at Toby. “You have until this time, seven days from now to deliver your sister to me. Defy me, and I will reap my payment from your flesh!”  
The Goblin King unleashed another hail of burning pain through him, this time more intense than any he had experienced before. The ozone around him seemed to crackle as wave after wave of agony swept over him. A scream ripped through his body so loud that it could have shattered glass. This time there was no thoughts of honor, no delusions of escape. There were only prayers for death so that his suffering would finally be over. The last thing he saw before falling into merciful unconsciousness was Jareth’s laughing face, his eyes alight with victory.


	11. Chapter 11

PART 1   
.  
Toby drifted in and out of consciousness for the next eleven hours or so, his body trying to recover from the abuse it had been put through. It wasn’t until almost one o’clock Sunday afternoon when he was finally able to maintain his awareness for an extensive amount of time.   
He was still lying on the floor where he had fallen, a mass of arms and legs contorted in odd positions. He lifted his head off the floor, his neck sore and stiff. He looked around the room wondering how he got there, momentarily forgetting what had transpired the previous evening. Then realization caught up with him and he remembered that Jareth had showed up to vent his displeasure. His body ached in memory of the torment he was made to undergo.   
Toby carefully climbed off the floor and stumbled towards his bed. Even after almost eleven hours of recuperation, he still felt like he had been run over by a steam engine. He flopped down on his bed. Every inch of his body hurt. He delicately undid the buttons of his shirt and carefully peeled the garment off. What he saw underneath was enough to make him recoil.  
A network of raw nerves spread across his arms and his chest like red spider webs. They were so sensitive that when the air hit them they came alive, stinging like bee bites. He inspected the rest of his body. Under his jeans were the same red tracks, though not as numerous as on his upper torso. Thankfully his neck and face remained unscathed but he would have to wear jeans and long sleeved shirts for awhile until the marks went away.   
A moan escaped from his throat. Memories from the night before assailed him. Even though his grief for Maggie was still fresh, his fear of what Jareth might do to him moved to the forefront of his concerns. Toby ran his hands through his hair in nervous worry. There was doubt in his mind that the Goblin King meant everything he promised. He would kill him if he didn’t do what he said. The thought of betraying Sarah to that monster and condemning her to save his own life sickened him. He had to find someway to get out of this mess, but what was he going to do?   
He racked his brain trying to find a way out of the situation. When no solution was immediate in surfacing, Toby decided he would chance it and tell Sarah about what happened to him. He knew that he ran the risk of incurring Jareth’s wrath again but he could think of no other course. He felt certain that Jareth wouldn’t do anything to hurt Sarah, he admitted as much to him last night while he was torturing him. His own well being he wasn’t so certain of but he had to try something. Sarah had dealt with Jareth before, and defeated him. Maybe she would know what to do. It was a long shot at best but what other option did he have?  
Toby stood up from his bed and went over to his dresser and picked out a long sleeved shirt. He gingerly pulled it over his head and down his torso taking care not to irritate his already inflamed skin. He complimented it with a pair of loose fitting sweat pants. Once dressed, he opened his bedroom door, which now responded to his command, and headed downstairs.   
As he slowly descended the stairs, Toby was puzzled to hear his father speaking in harsh, loud tones. His father was in the kitchen and though he couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, he could tell his dad was angry. It was quiet in the kitchen now as he approached the door and eased it open.   
The first thing he saw was his mother sitting at the kitchen table, a tissue held up to her eyes, crying. His father was shouting again but not at his mother as he first thought. His father was pacing the floor, phone receiver in hand, cord trailing behind him.  
“What do you mean I can’t hold your office responsible?” he growled into the phone. “It’s your damn paper!”  
As his mother was dabbing her nose, she peeked over her tissue and noticed Toby standing in the doorway. Shock and concern were etched on her face. Her reaction to seeing him standing there was immediate. She quickly stood from the table and met Toby in the doorway and turned him back into the living room.   
“What’s going on?” he asked his mother once they were in the living room.   
“It’s nothing honey,” his mother tried to assure him. “Your father’s just talking to a man over at the newspaper.”  
Toby was confused. Why would his dad be shouting at someone from the newspaper office?   
“What about?”  
She paused before answering. “It’s nothing to worry about. Your father’s straightening things out.”  
“What’s he straightening out mom?” He was becoming frustrated. He could tell his mom was keeping something from him. “Just tell me what’s going on.”  
His mother pursed her lips considering what to do and then she walked into the kitchen. She returned in less than a minute holding the Sunday newspaper in her hand, a fretful look on her face. She handed it to Toby.  
“Look on page two,” she instructed him, her voice low and quivering. “In the accident report.”  
Toby flipped to the second page of the newspaper and scanned downwards. He spotted it halfway from the top. A picture of the mangled silver Jaguar was featured in black and white with the headline ‘Film Director Dies in Crash with Local Football Hero’ above it. There was a sinking feeling as he read on:  
‘….Charles Weinerzetheim a prominent director, was killed Saturday night in a fatal car crash with Tobias Williams, quarterback for Nyack High School’s football team. Weinerzetheim’s car was struck when Williams ran a traffic light at the intersection of Bulger and Canton. Weinerzetheim and Williams’ passenger were pronounced dead at the scene. Williams suffered minor injuries and was taken to Lutheran’s Mercy Hospital. Police reports indicate that Williams was intoxicated at the time of the accident…..’  
Toby felt the gorge rise in his throat. They were blaming the accident on him and, even worse, said that he was drunk! How could this happen? Everybody was going to know about the wreck and they were going to think it was his fault! This was a nightmare. His whole world was beginning to crumble.   
“Oh shit!” he exclaimed in horror, “SHIT!” He began to pace the floor. “Oh God, what am I going to do?!”  
Karen Williams put her arm around the back of her son and tried to lead him to a chair. “Don’t let it get to you Toby, we’ll take care of this,” she tried to reassure him. “Your father and I are going to get the newspaper to correct it; everything’s going to be okay-”  
“No it’s not mom!” he shook off his mother’s arm, his pacing becoming more fervent. “Everybody’s going to think I was out boozing it up and that it’s all my fault! I wasn’t drinking and I didn’t hit that guy! This ass wipe lied and blamed the whole thing on me!” he crumpled the newspaper in his left hand, “This is total BULLSHIT!”  
Karen Williams’ teeth clenched in a way Toby recognized well.  
“Tobias David Williams,” her voice was strict, “Don’t you dare speak to me in that manner again. I know this is upsetting but stomping around swearing isn’t going to fix anything. Your father and I will handle this. You need to calm yourself down.” It wasn’t a request, it was an order.  
Toby opened his mouth to argue with his mother then promptly shut it, knowing it would only make things worse. By this time though his father was shouting in the kitchen again, effectively closing the subject.  
“I don’t care what your policies are!” his father raged, “The boy is a minor! There are laws out there to protect minors!” He was quiet for a moment. “Oh yeah? Well let me tell you something, you WILL correct this situation and you WILL print a retraction! Otherwise I will slap a lawsuit on you so big; the only thing your ass wipe” (his mother cringed at his use of the words and Toby smirked a little) “will be good for is to start a pilot light!” Toby heard the phone make a sound of protest as his father slammed the receiver down in its cradle. Roger Williams stormed into the living room; his movements agitated and face red from anger.   
“I can’t believe those people over at the newspaper!” he fumed, his eyes wild. “I never thought I could be neglected and insulted at the same time!”  
“Calm down Roger,” his mother tried to pacify him. “Tell me what happened.”  
His dad huffed loudly from his nostrils and gestured angrily with his hands. “How can I calm down with those idiots printing all that malarkey? First I had to wait ten minutes until the genius that answered the phone could find a supervisor! Then when the jackass finally got on the phone and I told him that they got their story wrong, that it was the other way around, he had the balls to tell me that I must be mistaken because they don’t run accident reports on Sunday! Like I’m some sort of an idiot! It’s right there in black and white for God’s sake! When he finally did quit arguing with me long enough to pick up a damn paper and see that I was right, he then gives me some sort of line that they write only what the police reports say and they’re not responsible for any misinformation on the police’s side!” He looked to his son, “Toby, did the police tell you that they thought the accident was your fault last night?”  
Toby shook his head. “No, all they asked me was how fast I was going and if I had been drinking.”  
“Yeah that’s what I thought,” his father seethed, “All you have to do is look at the cars and you can see who hit who! And even if the cops did say it was you, the paper has no business printing your name in the report! You’re a minor for Christ’s sake!”  
Roger Williams angrily snatched the crumpled paper from his son’s hand and brandished it before them. “I don’t know where those morons are getting their information from unless they’re pulling it out of their ass!”  
“What are they going to do?” his mother asked, “Are they going to print a retraction?”  
“First they have to contact the police to find out if there was a mistake in the report then it’s up to the police to issue the retraction. They said they can’t do it just on my say so.” he explained.  
“Well, what can we do?”   
“Oh, I can call the newspaper manager tomorrow when the office is open and lodge a complaint with the editor,” he scoffed. “Yeah, as if I’m waiting til then. Come on Karen, grab your coat.”  
She looked at her husband with startled amazement. “Where are we going?”  
“We’re going to pay the state troopers a little visit,” his dad stalked to the front door and seized his jacket from the coat rack that was near it. He thrust his arms roughly through the sleeves and caught up his car keys. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. So help me God, if they don’t fix this mess, I’m going to sue all those bastards!” he threatened as he stomped out the door.   
His mother stared after him for a moment before she decided to follow his lead.   
“Your father,” she sighed as she put her own coat on, “I better calm him down before he gets himself arrested.” She adjusted her scarf and pulled on her grey chenille gloves. She retrieved her purse from the foyer closet and hung it from the crook of her arm. As she opened the door, the brisk air seeped in. “We’ll be back in a few hours,” she promised. “Sarah called about an hour ago and said she was heading over so she should be here any minute.” A blare from the car horn cut through the air. His mother rolled her eyes. “I suppose that’s my cue.” Toby stood by the door, eyes glistening with tears he was holding back. She rested one of her hands along the side of his face and smiled warmly. “Don’t worry baby, we’ll get to the bottom of things. Everything’s going to be okay.” With that, she departed and Toby was left alone in the house.  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
It was only fifteen minutes until Sarah’s car pulled into the driveway but it was the longest fifteen minutes of Toby’s life.   
It had been years since the first time he convinced his mom that he was old enough to stay home by himself. That was when he was eleven and she was just stepping out to get some canned tomatoes to finish dinner before his dad got home from work. He spoke so confidently that he would be fine home alone until she got back, even promising to keep an eye on dinner. But once his mother pulled out of sight from the living room window and the time wiled away as he waited for her return, Toby could feel an unbidden dread creep into him. The shadows in the house grew longer as ten minutes turned to twenty minutes then thirty minutes during that late winter afternoon. The old house creaked and groaned the way old houses do but it was easy for his young overworked imagination to envision all sorts of terrors lurking in the darkening rooms. By the time his mother returned, thirty seven minutes had passed and he had every light in the downstairs on.  
He remembered that first night all those years ago with vivid recollection because it was the same kind of dread that Toby was experiencing now. Though it was a bright sunny afternoon outside, inside the Victorian the silence was suffocating. The air was heavier. Even though he knew he was alone, he could feel a presence, as if the house was haunted. And it was haunted or, more precisely, he was haunted. He was being haunted by the Goblin King. Though there was no evidence of him physically being there, Toby could sense him, watching, waiting, like an evil seraph; his essence lingering like the odor of an old meal.  
Toby was just considering waiting outside, cold or no, when Sarah finally pulled up. Despite his ailments, he bolted into the kitchen to meet her at the door.  
Sarah walked though the door dressed in a long winter coat and beret carrying a large brown paper bag that emitted a delicious aroma, in her arms. A caring smile touched her lips.  
“Hey Tobes, how are you feeling today?” she asked, her voice lilting with sisterly concern. “I picked you up some of those onion bagels you like from the Fifth Street Bakery-”  
“Jareth was here last night.”  
The bagels fell to the floor with a thunk.  
Sarah stared at him, her eyes wide and mouth hung open, fear replacing the affectionate look that was there previously.   
“When?” she whispered apprehensively.  
“As soon as we got home, a little bit after two,” he established. “He was hiding in my room waiting for me.”  
Sarah looked perplexed. “But how? He shouldn’t be able to just pop up without being called!” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t make another wish did you?”  
Her question offended him.   
“Do you really think I’m that stupid?” he asked dryly.  
She looked as though she were going to make an excuse but thought better. “Sorry,” she muttered, “It’s just- what did he want?”  
“He wanted me to trick you into wearing the bracelet,” he told her candidly. “See, the ‘giving you the bracelet and taking it back ploy’ didn’t work. There was a loophole in the wish that said you had to wear the bracelet for my debt to be paid, and when he found out I tried to scam him he was none too happy.”  
“Did you tell him that he had no power over you?”  
“Yeah I did,” he confirmed.  
She stared at him anxiously. “And?”  
“And, well, he showed me that he does.” Toby lifted up his shirt and exposed his wounds.  
Sarah gasped and winced in horror at the sight of her brother’s ravaged body. She moved towards him, her hand outstretched as if to touch him. Toby nimbly stepped back out of her reach to avoid any discomfort the contact would make. He gently lowered his shirt being careful not to let the fabric scrape over his skin.  
“Oh Toby, what has he done to you?” she murmured sadly. “How could this have happened? He should have just disappeared when you told him he has no power over you!”  
“He said that because I took his gifts that it put me in his power,” he explained miserably. “I told him I wouldn’t do it and that’s when he did this to me.”   
Toby didn’t go into details about his ordeal the night before to spare his sister the grief she would undoubtedly feel. But it didn’t stop him from reliving the horrible event. His skin tingled as if his nerves had a trace memory of what they endured. Hopelessness and desolation gripped his heart. He pressed his eyelids tightly shut to prevent the tears that had been building up from escaping but a solitary tear betrayed him and trickled down his cheek.  
“He said I had seven days to get you to wear that bracelet or else he would come back to finish the job,” he drew in a quivering breath and opened his eyes. He looked at his sister through blurry eyes. All the color had drained from her face.   
“So there it is,” he finished, “I got seven days before the Goblin King comes back and turns me into a pile of cinders.”  
He pushed his hair back from his forehead, his hand shaking as he did. “I have no idea what I’m going to do Sarah! I try and I try but I can’t think of anything that I can do to save my ass! He-” his voice broke from the strain he was under and he was momentarily unable to go on. He inhaled deeply and let out a shuddering sigh. “If you have any ideas on how I can get out of this mess, then now sure would be the time to tell me.”   
He looked pleadingly at his sister, willing her to have some sort of answer for him. Sarah’s eyes were hooded with worried contemplation. She turned her back to him and began pacing the kitchen, chewing the nail of her left hand thumb. Toby hadn’t seen her do that since the night she was babysitting him when he was five and they broke the living room window playing inside baseball. She traced her steps back and forth in the kitchen as she mulled over his predicament. After about five minutes, she stopped and faced him.  
“He gave you seven days huh?”  
Toby nodded. “Until 2:23 Sunday morning to be exact.”  
Sarah set her jaw and gave him a determined look. “Then that gives us seven days to find a way to defeat him.”  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
The two Williams siblings sat across from one another in a booth at Gino’s pizzeria, a half eaten pie between them. Toby had no appetite for pizza (or any food for that matter) but Sarah insisted that they go claiming greasy food helped her think. Not that he was buying into that. He knew that she was trying to help take his mind off his worries and was actually quite relieved to be out of the house. However, he wasn’t entirely prepared to be out in public though.   
When they had arrived at Gino’s, there was a small family of four that had stopped by for pick up and the two young daughters immediately recognized Sarah from her TV show. They squealed and ran up to her and jabbered at her excitedly. Sarah, for her part, responded graciously, easily slipping into her ‘Miss Sarah’ persona. She dazzled the girls with a story about the nightingale, even making little origami birds out of paper napkins for the little girls. All the while the girls watched her with awestruck eyes and joyful smiles. Toby couldn’t help but smile himself as he watched his sister interact with the small little girls. She really had a way with children and they naturally seemed drawn to her. For a brief moment he wondered why Sarah didn’t have any kids of her own. It seemed to be instinctive to her. On the heels of that thought came the idea of his sister being married, or at the very least being in a serious, long term relationship, and the image tarnished a little. Toby couldn’t imagine that. Sarah didn’t have boyfriends, at least not for very long, and thus the idea of her getting married and having kids seemed improbable. But watching Sarah with those two little girls, he knew she would be a great mom.  
Toby stood quietly as Sarah wowed her little fans. He shared a smile with the mother when they looked at each other but the father only stared at him coldly. His grin faded, puzzled at the man’s cold reception. When Sarah had finished her performance, the girls were tickled and clapped delightedly. The parents thanked Sarah and complimented her and her show, expressing how their girls watch it every day. Finally, they managed to corral their excited children towards the door but as they were walking out, the husband leaned close to his wife and whispered something to her. She looked back over her shoulder at Toby and gave him an appalled look. Toby had a sinking sensation he knew what the look had been about.  
So now, there they sat, Sarah scanning a newspaper that another patron had left behind and Toby pushing his slice around on his plate with a fork. After a few minutes of reading, she folded up the newspaper and looked across at him.   
“Unbelievable,” was all she could say at first. Once the initial shock wore off though, she had lots more to say.  
“I can’t believe that they could be so irresponsible to actually name you!” she fumed. “It’s unethical, not to mention that it’s completely untrue! That’s called slander and libel! They can get their asses in serious hot water for that shit!” She looked at the report again. “Whoever this Gordon King is that wrote this bs ought to get his butt fired! Did dad and Karen talk to the newspaper?”  
“Yeah,” Toby told her, “Dad was talking to them when I got up. Yelling at them actually.” Sarah let out a justified snort accompanied by a vindicated half smile. “They said that they got all their info from the police report and the cops had to call for a retraction. So that’s where they went, up to talk to the police about it.”  
“Well, if that’s what the police wrote up then they should go after their badges!” she scoffed. “Anyone could see that it was your car that was struck, unless they had their head stuck in a donut box! And there’s absolutely no evidence that you had anything to drink! No breathalyzer, no blood tests, and we both told them that jerk tossed his drink on you!” She skimmed over the article again. “But talk about irony that it was him that hit you,” she muttered absently. She stopped speaking and looked as though she were deep in thought. A troubled expression crossed her face and her eyes became enlarged.  
“What?” he asked about her sudden reaction.  
“Huh?” she responded, snapping out of her reflections. Her face flushed a bit.   
“Oh, it’s just - it’s nothing,” she stammered out. She seemed suddenly uncomfortable.   
“Listen, you let dad and Karen take care of this,” she said, changing the subject. “Right now you’ve bigger problems to worry about. Mainly, how to get rid of the Goblin King.”  
Toby nodded gloomily in agreement. They had been at Gino’s for nearly forty five minutes now and no way nearer to any kind of a solution to his problem. They needed to figure out what weaknesses Jareth had, if any, and how they could use them to beat him. That meant doing something he knew his sister loathed to dwell on.   
“Sarah, I know you don’t like to talk about it,” he started as delicately as he could, “but you’re the only one with any sort of insight of him. Was there anytime during your run you maybe picked up on something? Something we could use against him?”  
She thought for awhile, retracing her memories of the Labyrinth, searching for anything about Jareth that they could possibly exploit. Eventually, she unhappily shook her head.  
“No,” she concluded, “Other than using the ‘you have no power over me’ line, I didn’t really do any kind of battle against him. He sent his goblin army against me but my friends and I easily got past them. It was almost as if he wanted me to get to him, and looking back now, I think he did. I think he wanted to get me face to face so he could size me up, so he could test me, to determine if I was….worthy.” She shivered at the implication.   
She quickly moved on, “We got to figure out exactly what we’re dealing with here before we can find a way to defeat him. So what do we know?”  
Toby looked at her blankly not sure what she was asking. Sarah pulled out a napkin from the dispenser and a pen out of her purse.  
“Well we know he rules the Labyrinth and that he’s called the Goblin King,” she scribbled on the napkin, “But he’s definitely not a goblin.”  
Toby could see where she was going with this. “Then what the hell is he?” he scowled.  
“That’s what we need to find out,” she tapped her pen to her lips, “He’s got magic, lots of it. Magic over time, magic over dreams, all the things he can do with those freaky crystals, not to mention what he did to you-”  
She stopped abruptly and looked at him with chagrin.   
“It’s okay,” Toby assured her, “I have a feeling he could have done a lot worse, like he did with Maggie.”  
And uncomfortable pause fell between the two siblings momentarily. It was Sarah who broke the silence.  
“Right,” she said solemnly, not caring to elaborate on the topic any further. “And he can grant wishes.” She drummed her fingers on the table in thought. “Come to think of it, that’s the way he hooked me in when I had……made that wish.” Her cheeks burned with shame. She was blundering through all kinds of land mines this afternoon.  
Pushing her discomfort aside, she continued on. “Do you think he might be some sort of genie or something?” she questioned out loud. “Maybe not like the kind you rub a lamp for but kind of like an overgrown leprechaun or something?”  
Toby almost laughed at her characterization of Jareth as a gold hoarding sprite. But her comparing him to a genie reminded him of a conversation he and the Goblin King had the first night he had showed up in his room and he wondered if he was a genie or a fairy godfather.  
Not a drop of Fae blood runs through my veins…Think older, more powerful…  
“No,” he shook his head with certainty, “He told me the first time he came to grant my wish that he wasn’t a genie or Fae. He said he was older and more powerful than that.”  
Sarah frowned. He could tell his answer had her flummoxed. He wasn’t at all familiar with fairies or elves or other mythical creatures, either real or imaginary, but here they were, trying to classify exactly what kind of magical being Jareth was. Jareth only ever referred to himself as the king of the goblins. Except that once when he was boasting about being the evil king from Sarah’s stories; child thief, seducer of innocents, sadistic bastard, etcetera, etcetera. And then there was another time, he called himself something else when they were striking the deal for his last wish. What was it he called himself?   
“Wait,” he said, trying to evoke the memory of that night, “There was something he said that night I made my last wish. He said he was a ‘sheera’ or a ‘shivra’ or something like that.”  
His sister arched her eyebrows. “A what?”  
“A shivra!” he exclaimed louder than he meant.   
His outcry drew the attention of some underclassmen who had just seated themselves across the aisle from them. The two boys (one was a junior Toby recognized but couldn’t name) stared at him with bothered looks on their faces and their female companions stifled giggles behind their hands.  
He went on in a lower voice. “When we shook hands on the wish, he said I just made a bargain with a ‘shivra’. Does that mean anything to you?”  
Sarah wrote the word on her napkin and underlined it three times.   
“Are you sure that’s what he said?”  
“Pretty sure,” his head bobbed up and down. The table of teenagers was watching them intently now, passing hushed whispers back and forth between each other. “Do you know what that is?”  
“Not a clue,” she admitted, “But it’s a starting point. I’m going to take some time off this week and hunt down somebody who might have some sort of knowledge about these things. There has to be some sort of myth or record about him or these ‘shivras’. Somebody out there has to know something about the Goblin King.”  
Toby only listened to her half heartedly, his attention being pulled to his classmates across from them. They were now openly staring at him and snickering amongst themselves. Toby could only watch with growing conviction that it was him they were snickering about.   
“Toby?” Sarah said as she followed his gaze to the teenagers that were watching them. Realizing what was happening; she reached in her purse and dropped a twenty on the table.  
“C’mon, let’s go,” she said rising from the booth.  
Toby stood up from where he was seated and followed his sister towards the door. He knew it was a bad idea to go out. He should have known better. Of course they would stare at him; of course they would be talking about him. He stood accused of driving under the influence and causing the death of two people. He had become a pariah over night.  
They crossed the distance between their booth and the door quickly with Sarah taking the lead. She pushed open the door and held it open waiting for him to follow. They had almost managed to exit the pizzeria without incident until he heard one of the boys behind them mutter “murderer” and the rest of the table snicker.  
He stalled in his tracks and cast a shattered look back at his accusers. They watched him with critical eyes and the boy that seemed familiar to him held a cruel smile on his face.   
Toby couldn’t move. He wanted to confront the teenagers, to let them know exactly how things happened and wipe that smarmy look of the junior’s face but he couldn’t speak. All he could do was stare back at them until he felt a hand on his forearm.  
“Toby,” he turned and saw that it was Sarah touching him, “Let’s leave.”  
Her voice brought him around and he stepped through the doorway out onto the sidewalk. The last thing he heard as the door lazily fell shut was the cutting laughter of the teens.  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
“Don’t let them get to you,” Sarah consoled him on the drive home, “Everything’s going to get better once dad and Karen fix this whole newspaper mess. They’ll get them to print a retraction then everyone will know it’s not your fault.”  
Sarah prattled on trying to assure him that things weren’t as bad as they seemed but Toby knew better. Even if there was a retraction printed, he knew the damage had already been done. There would still be people out there that would think he was drunk and that he caused the accident. They would still blame him for the death of Maggie and that sleazy director. And deep down inside, Toby wasn’t too sure that he didn’t deserve the blame.  
“It doesn’t matter,” his tone was despondent. She shot him a curious look. “They’re right, it is my fault,” Sarah opened her mouth to contradict him but he   
continued on. “If it wasn’t for me, Maggie and that guy would still be alive. The Goblin King would never have gotten to them or Heather Blair for that matter. If I had never made those wishes, they wouldn’t have died and you wouldn’t have that psychopath stalking you. All this is my fault.” He sunk even further into his despair. “He should have just killed me last night and been done with it.”  
“Don’t say things like that,” she told him with an authoritative voice. “Toby Williams if I ever hear you talk like that again I’m going to knock you up along side the head. Do you hear me?”  
She looked over at him daring him to defy her. He knew better than to disagree with her so he gave a weak nod. But she wasn’t done yet.  
“Let me tell you something: Yeah, you did mess up. Big time. You called up the Goblin King without having any idea what you were letting loose. And you were being selfish and careless but you never meant for anyone to get hurt. It was him that killed Maggie and Heather and Charles, not you and blaming yourself for it isn’t going to bring any of them back. He didn’t have to do that, he wanted to. It’s in his nature. He manipulated and enticed you and yeah, you did play right into his hands, but you’re not responsible for his actions! So enough with the blame game and get your head on straight!”   
Toby felt ashamed by his words and dropped his head. Pitying himself wasn’t going to solve anything. Though he still felt guilty for Maggie and the others’ deaths, he didn’t want to die in agonizing pain by the Goblin King’s hands. Sarah was right. He did have to get his head on straight and concentrate on the matter at hand, finding a way to beat Jareth.  
They turned onto his home street and slowly pulled up to the old Victorian. The street was abandoned except for a grey Crown Vic that was parked across the road. His dad’s car was in the driveway announcing their return. Toby prayed that his parents might have some answers. Sarah eased her car into the driveway behind their dad’s.  
“Looks like the parents are home,” she quipped. “I wonder what they found out.”  
She put the shifter into park and shut off the engine. She was just about to get out of the car when he spoke up.   
“Hey Sarah, thanks for all your help. I was just feeling sorry for myself earlier and needed you to set me straight.”  
She accepted his gratitude and explanation with a nod. “That’s what big sisters are for.”  
They both got out of the car and proceeded up the driveway towards the side entrance. For the first time that day, Toby felt a little better. Sarah always had a way of comforting him even in the direst of circumstances and now that they were forming a plan of attack, so to speak, things didn’t seem quite so bleak as it did when he first woke up-  
“TOBY WATCH OUT!”  
Toby turned his head in bewilderment at his sister’s warning and was met with a large fist slamming into the center of his face. He heard the crunch of his nose and felt the spurt of blood it released. The blow left him disoriented and in pain. He staggered backwards trying to regain his bearings but it was no use. He stumbled and landed on his back in the snow. He looked up from where he had fallen, the sunlight dazzling his tear laden eyes, unsure of what had exactly happened. His sister was screaming and a man was shouting above him. He blinked his eyes profusely trying to clear them. It took him several seconds before he realized what was going on.   
Sarah was standing with her back towards him, arms outstretched, seemingly blocking a large man that was trying to get past her to him. Toby recognized the man immediately. It was Frank Gillepsie, Maggie’s father.  
“Get up you little punk!” he roared at Toby as he tried to maneuver around Sarah. “Get up! I’m going to RIP YOU APART!”  
“Leave him alone!” Sarah screamed at the angry man, countering his steps to stay between him and her brother. “He didn’t do anything!”  
The commotion brought his parents hurriedly out of the house, their eyes wide at the sight that greeted them. His mother rushed immediately to his side and his dad pushed his way between Sarah and Frank.  
“What the hell is going on here?!?” Roger Williams bellowed.   
The two men squared off against one another, Frank beating him out by an inch or two. But what his dad lacked in height he made up for in personal courage. He stood his ground against the taller man.  
“Your boy killed my daughter!” he yelled brokenly. “I’m here for a little justice!”  
“No he didn’t!” Sarah yelled back at him. “It was an accident! He didn’t-”  
Roger Williams silenced his daughter with a raised hand.  
“Sarah,” he said calmly, his eyes never leaving the enraged man’s, “Help your stepmother take Toby into the house.” Sarah opened her mouth to disagree but her father cut her off. “Do as you’re told.”  
She squatted down next to Toby and gripped around his left elbow, Karen doing the same with his right and carefully helped him to his feet. He swayed dizzily. His mom and Sarah helped balance him and started guiding him to the house.  
“You,” he heard his father address Frank Gillepsie from behind him. “Get off my property before I call the cops.”  
“No,” Toby choked out, “Don’t call the cops. Please dad.”  
“I don’t need any favors from you junior!” Frank called out at him as his mother and sister hustled him into the house.   
“Enough,” his father warned, lowly but unfalteringly. That was the last thing Toby could hear before Sarah and his mom got him inside the house.  
They led him to the couch and laid him down easily. His mother quickly went to the kitchen.  
Toby laid there, his head swimming and his nose throbbing painfully. He could taste the blood running down the back of his throat. Sarah crouched next to him, looking anxiously into his face.  
“Are you okay?”  
He nodded his head weakly. He could feel his nose ballooning up. “Did he break it?” he asked her.  
She examined his injury. “No, I don’t think so, but you’re going to have a serious pair of shiners.”  
His mother returned to the living room with a cool washcloth in her hand. She carefully held it to his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. He winced with discomfort causing his mother to remove the washcloth. She brought his hand up and placed it in his palm.  
“Here honey. Hold it to your nose. Just keep it from getting blood all over the place.” She looked up at Sarah with concern. “What happened?”  
“We had just pulled in and that guy came running up and decked him,” she explained. “Was that Maggie’s dad?”  
“Yes,” Karen verified, as she took a corner of the cloth and dabbed the blood at the side of Toby’s face. “That’s Frank Gillepsie.” She turned all her attention to her son. “What was he thinking attacking you like that? He’ll be lucky if we don’t have him arrested!”  
“No mom!” he protested frantically, “Don’t call the police! It’s fine, I’ll be okay, just don’t call the cops!”  
Outside they could hear a car engine rev up and a sharp screech of tires as it drove off. Moments later, his dad stepped through the door.  
“What’s going on Roger?” his mom asked.   
“It’s alright, we just had a talk,” he assured her.  
His father walked over to the couch where Toby was reclining. He looked down at him. “Are you okay son?”  
Toby nodded. “You’re not going to call the police are you?”  
His dad shook his head. “Not if you don’t want me too. But if he comes back here or tries to attack you again then I will.”   
“What did you say to him?”   
“I said that you hadn’t been drinking and that it was the other guy that ran into you,” his jaw tightened, “Of course, he didn’t believe me. Said that’s not what he read in the newspaper. I told him that the newspaper had it wrong and I had the police report to prove it but he just called me a liar and stormed off.”  
Toby and Sarah both perked up at the mention of the police report.  
“You mean you got the actual incident report?” she asked their father.   
Roger Williams retrieved some folded papers from the end table by the couch. He handed them to Sarah.  
“States clear as day that it was his car that struck Toby’s. Not one word in there about Toby being drunk. They even noted that the paramedics said you had no signs of being intoxicated.”  
As Sarah skimmed through the papers, her face brightened. Then her brows furrowed.  
“Well if the police report doesn’t say he was drunk and it was his fault, then where did the newspaper get all that crap?”  
“I don’t know, and quite frankly, I don’t care,” he retorted sharply. “All I know is come nine o’clock tomorrow morning I’m going to be in that newspaper office, shoving that report in the editor’s face! Then we’ll see how fast they are to print a retraction!”  
Roger Williams was on the verge of a rant. He breathed deeply and managed to settle himself down a little bit and looked more closely at Toby’s face. He gently lifted the cloth from his nose to inspect the damage.  
“Whoa,” he responded to the sight of his son’s swollen nose. “Look at all that blood. Did he break it?”  
Toby shook his head. “I don’t think so,” his voice sounding stuffy since he could no longer breathe through his nostrils.  
His father scrutinized his injury.   
“I’m not so sure about that,” he concluded. “Best get that checked out by a doctor. Come on son let’s get you to the hospital.”  
And for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, Toby was headed off to the emergency room again.


	12. Chapter 12

PART 1  
.   
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny, as if having no knowledge of the tragic events that had transpired only days before. The sky was a tranquil blue and the air was crisp with winter. It had flurried sometime during the night, giving the ground a fresh dusting of snow, covering its imperfections. The windows sparkled with frost as if they were made of diamonds. It all appeared to be the perfect December day. But Toby knew better.  
He awoke from his fitful sleep a bit before nine o’clock, his right hand numb from his arm dangling off the side of the couch. He insisted on sleeping on the couch, claiming to his mother that it kept his head propped up better than his own bed. But that was just a pretense. After his encounter with Jareth in his room the night before, Toby was averse to spending much time up there. The brutal attack stripped him of the comfort and solitude his bedroom once afforded him.   
Normally, on any other Monday, he would be in study hall at this time but on this day his parents had allowed him to stay home. They wanted to give him the day to recuperate from his recent injuries and, though they didn’t verbalize it, protect him from the school rumor mill until the retraction was printed. Toby was grateful for it. After all that he had been through that weekend, he didn’t feel like he would be able to bear the stares and whispers.  
Toby sat up on the couch and rubbed his stiff neck. His nose (which wasn’t broken after all) was tender and swollen. It was flanked on both sides by deep bruises under his eyes. The skin on his arms and torso was still reddened and sensitive. He felt like he had gone through war.  
He stood up slowly and shambled into the kitchen to find some sort of nourishment. He yanked open the refrigerator door and pulled out the orange juice. Without pause, he tipped it back and drank straight from the carton. His mother happened to walk into the kitchen with a load of whites just in time to catch him in the act.  
“Use a glass, if you don’t mind,” she scolded him. He lowered the carton from his lips and fetched a glass from the cupboard.   
“That’s better,” his mother praised him, “How are you feeling this morning?”  
Toby shrugged. “Like crap.”  
“Well that’s to be expected,” she said, her hands neatly folding a pair of socks. “You’ve been through a lot the past few days. Your body needs time to heal.”  
He took a haul of his juice. “Did dad go to work already?”  
“Oh heavens yes, he left hours ago. It is nearly nine sleepy head. He was going to stop by the newspaper before going into the office to try to straighten this mess out. He said he’d call us as soon as he was done speaking to the editor.” She stared down at her busy hands before continuing on.  
“Maggie’s funeral is today,” she said levelly, her eyes never leaving the laundry she was working on.   
Toby made no reply.   
She cut her gaze to him trying to gauge his reaction as he leaned against the counter. “Are you planning on going?”  
He looked down at the glass he held in his hand as he swirled the contents of it. He shook his head.  
He could see his mother relax a little out of the corner of his eye.   
“I’m sure that’s the best decision,” she sighed, “Considering the circumstances and the hoopla with what the newspaper said -”  
“Did Angie call?” he asked, effectively changing the subject.  
His mom took the hint. “No honey, I’m sorry she didn’t.”  
Toby just nodded his head at her answer and finished the rest of his juice in one swig. He had tried the last evening to reach her by phone but was told, rather gruffly, by her mother that she wasn’t home. He asked Ms Bernard to let her know that he had called for her and asked her to return his call. That had been over fifteen hours ago. Now she was in school and he would have to wait until after three to try to contact her again.   
Though he had many things weighing down his mind, the heaviest was what he was going to do about the Goblin King. He and Sarah discussed it yesterday but could come to no solution. Until they knew what they were dealing with, anything they might try would just be a shot in the dark. They had decided to concentrate on a word Jareth used to describe himself, a shivra, to figure out exactly what he was. Sarah said she would take the week off to try to track down whatever she could about the Goblin King and these shivras and suggested he read up on anything he could find about magical beings. And that was exactly what he planned to do. Toby grabbed two packs of cherry Poptarts and headed up the stairs for his room.   
As he approached his bedroom, the more uncomfortable he became. Though he was certain (or at least almost certain) Jareth wasn’t waiting for him on the other side of the door, he still had a cold prickling run down his spine. Pushing his feelings of unease aside, he slowly opened his door and peered inside.  
To the average eye, the room appeared as the ordinary bedroom of any teenaged boy but to Toby, it was befouled and corrupted by the Goblin King. Merely being in the room made him feel physically sick, as if having an allergic reaction to the room. He quickly scouted out what he had come in there for, his encyclopedias that his parents had given him for his eleventh birthday. He stacked eight or so books in his arms and hurriedly retreated from his room.  
He went a short ways down the hallway across from his parents’ room into Sarah’s old bedroom. Not wanting anyone to know what he was doing, he decided to do his research in there. It was the only place in the house where he felt ensured he would not be interrupted.  
Sarah’s bedroom was like stepping back into her childhood.   
Aside from the few alterations that his mother did to the room, it practically shouted out Sarah. Her bed was made with the same patchwork quilt he would bundle up in during their late night story telling. The shelves by the door were lined with her favorite stories, fairytales mostly, and the occasional curio. The figurines and toys that used to be scattered throughout her room, were neatly organized by his mother in the hope chest at the foot of her bed. The pictures and posters that had once adorned her walls and vanity were gone (she had taken them with her when she went off to college) and the dressers and nightstands were empty, but other than that, Sarah’s room was left much the way it was when she lived there. Even the wooden hutch which housed her most prized stuffed animals still hung over her bed, an empty cubby hole where Lancelot once resided.  
Entering his sister’s bedroom gave Toby an overwhelming sense of freedom from the fear and despair plaguing him for the past few days. He felt safe and comforted being in Sarah’s room. It was as if this one corner of the world remained untouched by the current misery and harshness of his reality.   
Toby dumped his armload of books on Sarah’s old vanity table and sat down. He first tried looking up the word ‘shivra’ but couldn’t find anything on the word. Frustrated, but undaunted, he started looking up whatever he could about the fae, fairies, elves and anything else he could think of that could possibly pertain to what Jareth might be. It was a futile mission. He referenced and cross referenced everything he could on the subject but for the most part found the information whimsical and not very relevant. Nothing he read even came close to the Goblin King.   
At noon, he emerged from Sarah’s old room to forage for sustenance. He moved down to the kitchen with a volume under arm. He settled at the table with a tall glass of iced tea and ham sandwich. He had just finished his sandwich and was considering making himself another one when the doorbell rang.  
“Coming,” he heard his mother call out to whoever was on the other side of the door. Toby went to make himself a second sandwich, unconcerned with whoever had stopped by. He was sitting at the table ready to re-immerse himself in what he had been reading when his mother walked in with a large bundle of long stemmed plants with small fragrant purple flowers on them.  
“Look what just came for you!” his mother announced, burying her face in the bouquet and breathing in deeply. Toby just looked at her blankly. “It’s heather,” she explained to him, “Your sister sent it.”  
He took the bouquet his mother handed him and opened the envelope. Scrawled on a little ‘Feel Better Soon’ card was a sentence in his sister’s handwriting:  
To ward off evil spirits, keep this near.  
Slightly mystified by the enigmatic note, Toby laid the flowers down on the table beside him.  
“That was so sweet of Sarah to send those to you,” his mother went on, completely missing the consternated look that passed over her son’s face. “She certainly is considerate. Your father called for you earlier to check up on how you were doing.”  
Toby looked surprised. “When?”  
“When you were upstairs,” she told him, “You were being so quiet up there, I thought you were resting and didn’t want to disturb you.”  
He blinked in shock. Be was so engrossed in what he was reading he never even heard the phone ring!  
“Anyway, your father stopped by the newspaper and talked to the editor, showed him the police report,” she continued.  
“And?”  
“And the editor apologized and agreed to print a retraction,” she informed him with happy triumph. “He said he was sorry for whatever turmoil it must have caused our family and promised a retraction would be printed in tomorrow’s newspaper. He even offered us free subscription for a year.”  
Toby snorted contemptuously. As if a year’s worth of that rag was going to make up for what they said about him.  
“What did Dad say?” he wanted to know.  
His mother rolled her eyes. “Oh you know your father. He huffed and he puffed and he demanded that the guy who wrote the article be fired. Peculiar thing though, the editor said there wasn’t anyone working there by the name Gordon King. Said it must have been a misprint.”  
Toby just grunted in response and picked up his sandwich and book and retreated once more upstairs to his investigation.  
It was a little bit after four o’clock when Toby became aware of the time again. School had let out over an hour ago and Angie would be home by now. He leapt from his chair and rushed downstairs to the phone. He quickly punched in the numbers and listened to the line hum. Someone picked up after the third ring.  
“Hello?” said the voice on the other line.  
Shoot. It was Angie’s mom.  
“Um, hi Ms Bernard, this is Toby,” he announced over the phone, “Is Angie there?”  
A brief silence fell over the line.  
“No, she’s not,” he was told, rather snippily, “She’s at Maggie Gillepsie’s funeral.” He could hear the frown in her voice.  
“Oh, okay,” he bumbled out, “Um can you have her give me a call whenever she gets back?”   
He barely got his sentence out before he heard the line go dead.   
“Thanks,” he said on the empty line, with no small amount of sarcasm.  
Toby hung up the phone in frustration. It was going on three days since he last spoke to Angie and he was starting to get anxious. He was sure she was aware of the rumors going around about him being drunk and wanted to explain his side of the story. He translated her absence and hesitancy to return his calls as evidence that she shared the same opinion as the rest of the town. If he could just talk to her, he knew he could make her understand what really happened.   
As Toby tried to patiently wait for his girlfriend to return yet another one of his calls, he tried to distract himself with research. Minutes turned into hours with Toby getting no closer to finding an answer to what Jareth was. Around six-thirty Toby was distracted by a knock on the door downstairs. Realizing what time it was, he closed his books and decided to head down to the kitchen to hunt up some snacks before dinner. As he was descending the stairs he could hear his mother in the foyer speaking to whoever was at the door.  
“……he’s upstairs right now, I’ll call for him,” she walked into the living room to call for her son and saw him coming down. “Oh, wait, here he comes now!” she told the visitor. “Toby, you have a guest.”  
Toby ran down the last few steps, hoping that it was Angie stopping by to see him. As he rounded the corner he caught view of the foyer and who was standing in it and he stopped dead in his tracks.  
It was Shane.  
The two former friends stared at each other not saying anything. Karen could sense the discomfort between the two boys and set to disarm the situation.  
“It’s really good to see you Shane,” she said in a pleasant voice, “Dinner’s going to be ready in fifteen minutes if you’d like to stay.”  
“No thanks Mrs. Williams,” he declined politely, “I can’t stay very long.”  
Karen Williams merely nodded her head and cast a glance around to her son who said nothing. When the awkwardness became too much for her, she excused herself with the pretext that the potatoes weren’t going to mash themselves.   
Toby and Shane eyed each other for several moments, neither saying a word to the other. Finally Toby broke the silence.  
“What are you doing here?” he asked in a level, slightly defensive voice.  
Shane shuffled his feet on the rug with his hands in his letterman’s jacket. He cleared his throat.  
“Just stopping by to see how you were doing.”   
He gave the shorter boy a disingenuous grin and held his arms out wide at his sides.   
“Well, now you see,” he snipped at him, “Satisfied?”  
Shane’s eyes narrowed angrily and he opened his mouth to give a sharp retort. At the last second he seemed to think better of it and just shook his head in disgust.  
“I knew it was a bad idea coming here,” he muttered to himself as he turned to make his exit. He reached out and grasped the doorknob.  
Toby pounced on his words eagerly. “Then why did you come?” he challenged.  
The other boy turned back around to meet him, fury and disbelief alternating across his face.  
“You mean you really can’t tell?” he said, his tone holding equal amounts of anger and pain. “We’ve been best friends ever since we were ten years old and you can’t figure out why I would stop by? You just don’t have a clue. God, you are such a dick.”   
Toby could feel an angry surge build up within him but it was quickly quelled when he saw Shane’s eyes. He looked at the boy he used to spend his summers biking through the park with. He remembered all the backyard campouts they had together and how they would hang out at the pool and the school projects they would team up on. Shane was trying to reach out to him, and he was being a horse’s ass. At that moment he felt all the bitter animosity he held towards the brown haired boy drain out of him.   
He turned to leave when Toby spoke up.  
“You’re right, I am a dick.” Toby confessed lamely.  
Shane glanced back at him and gave him a suspicious look but didn’t leave. His expression lightened.  
“Yeah, well they say admitting it is the first step to recovery,” he joked gruffly.  
For the first time in several weeks, the two boys shared a smile.  
Shane removed his hand from the doorknob and turned towards Toby. “Look, I am so sorry for everything you’ve been going through,” he consoled. He shook his head in sympathy. “It’s all so unreal you know? Maggie being gone and all. How are you holding up?”  
Toby said he was getting by and told his friend everything that had happened to him. It felt good speaking to Shane again and fell naturally into conversation with him as if they had been talking the entire time. He relayed the whole sad story to his friend, minus, of course, a certain Goblin King’s hand in the matter. The other boy listened empathetically through the telling, nodding and shaking his head at the appropriate parts.   
“I never believed any of that crap in the newspaper about you drinking,” Shane announced when he was done, “I knew you would never have done anything like that.”   
Toby’s heart soared at his friend’s supportive words. They meant more to him than he could express.  
“Thanks man,” he said appreciatively, “I hope the rest of the school thinks the same way you do. Oh well. That retraction they’re printing up for tomorrow will hopefully clear my name.”  
Shane lowered his eyes giving Toby the distinct impression he was withholding some bad news.  
“What?” he asked trepidatiously.  
“It’s just -” the other boy started out. He heaved out a long sigh before continuing on. “I was at Maggie’s funeral before I stopped by here.”  
Toby’s ears perked up. “Yeah?” he urged.  
“And well, Maggie’s dad was saying how you were nothing but a boozer and that he’s going to push the cops to arrest you for causing Maggie’s death.” He rushed through the unpleasant revelation. “And, well, you know how it is at school. They get a drop of gossip and before you know it, you’re drowning in a sea of rumors.” He could see the disheartening effect it had on his friend. “But hey, they’re printing up that retraction right?” he tried to cheer him. “That will clear a lot of this mess up.”  
Toby just nodded his head. His guts began to twist in anxiety at the thought of going to school the next day. No good worrying about that, he thought. Ignoring the tossing sensation in his stomach he switched topics.  
“Was Angie there?” he asked absentmindedly.  
He could see Shane visibly recoil at the mention of his ex-girlfriend’s name but he quickly composed himself.  
“Yeah, she was there with Candace and Jen,” he informed him indifferently.  
Toby just nodded. He wanted to ask him how she seemed but could tell it was a touchy subject. Being that they were starting to rekindle their friendship, he deemed it best just to drop the subject.   
But the damage had been done because it was shortly after that Shane announced he had better get going. Not wanting his friend to leave on such a sour note, he tried to salvage the visit the best he could.  
“Hey, I’m glad you stopped by,” he told Shane gratefully. “It really means a lot, you know?”  
He gave Toby a budding smile and he could see his friend’s buoyant nature surfacing.   
“Yeah, I know,” he replied with a good natured smirk. He opened the door into cold evening. “Catch you later.”  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
Toby awoke Tuesday to the blaring of his alarm clock, temporarily forgetting where he was as seven pairs of glassy eyes peered down at him. It took him a few seconds before he remembered that he had slept in Sarah’s room the night before. He had convinced his mother to let him stay in her room because, as he told it, his sister’s bed was far more comfortable for him than his bed or the couch. This wasn’t completely a lie, he did feel much more comfortable in Sarah’s bed mainly for the reason that it wasn’t in his room. So she agreed to let him stay there until he felt better.   
He looked over at his alarm clock that was now perched on Sarah’s old nightstand underneath a canopy of the purple heather that his sister had sent him the day before. The alarm clock said 7:01am as it beeped at him to get up. He slapped his hand down on the off button and swung his feet over the side of the bed.  
It was his first day back to school after his accident and he was not looking forward to it. If it was true what Shane had told him last night, then there could be a good many kids in the school that would be under the impression that he was drinking and being reckless, which caused Maggie’s death. The prospects made him want to crawl back into bed and pull the covers up over his head. But, with any luck, enough people would read the retraction the editor promised to print and would see that it wasn’t his fault. No matter what lay in front of him, it did him no good worrying about it. He would just have to go to school and face whatever was in store for him.   
The only thing he was looking forward to was seeing Angie. She had failed to return his call yet again (Toby was beginning to wonder if her mother had given her his messages at all) and he was extremely anxious to speak with her. He had mentioned her behavior to Sarah when she called him the previous evening with her progress on the Jareth matter. She wasn’t sure exactly what to make of it either.  
“I don’t know Tobes, but don’t drive yourself crazy over it until you get a chance to talk to her,” she advised. “It sounds like her mom believes what was in the newspaper and maybe she’s being overprotective. You can hardly blame her for that.”  
“Maybe,” he conceded, “But it still sucks.”  
“Well if that’s the case, when she reads the retraction that should clear everything up for you,” she tried to put a positive spin on the situation. “Don’t let it bother you. Did you get the heather I sent you?”  
He looked over at the purple flowers his mom had put in a vase and placed in the center of the kitchen table.   
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “But I don’t know how flowers are supposed to keep me safe from – him.”  
“Well it said in all the books I read that heather generally keeps evil spirits away,” she explained. “So keep a piece of it on you at all times. It also said in a lot of the legends that magical beings don’t like iron. It’s like poison to them. Try to find something made of iron that you can carry around.”  
“Did you find anything else?”  
“I didn’t find anything about him or shivras,” she disclosed. “But Thursday I’m going to a seminar about Gaelic folklore at the community college. Hopefully I can learn something there.”  
Toby took his sister’s advice about the heather and iron. He moved the bouquet to her room where he was now crashing and after much hunting found an old iron key in one of his dad’s junk drawers out in the garage. He slipped the key onto a silver chain and wore it around his neck, the heft of key did give him a degree of assurance.  
He plucked a sprig of heather from his bouquet as he stood up then tiredly padded down the hall to his bedroom to retrieve some clothing for the day. Once he entered his room, he immediately set to the task of picking out the day’s wardrobe without a moment to spare. Since his arms still had visible reminders of Jareth’s attack, he pulled out a long sleeved shirt and jeans. He automatically shoved the fragrant bloom in his pants pocket and went into his sock drawer to fetch a pair. But when he opened the drawer, he was in for a rather unpleasant shock.  
There nestled amidst his stockings was a red and silver box.  
Toby felt his stomach pitch. He quickly scanned the room to see if the box’s owner was anywhere to be found. There wasn’t even so much as a speck of glitter indicating the Goblin King was present. He stared at the box, beads of sweat forming on his brow. There was no way of misconstruing the sign. It was Jareth’s nasty little reminder of their deal and what would happen to him if he didn’t deliver.  
Toby slammed his sock drawer closed without his socks and rushed out of his room. He turned into the bathroom and began digging through the hamper looking for a decently clean pair of matching socks he could wear for the day. The sight of box unsettled him so much that all his other concerns seemed trivial in contrast. It hit home that an extremely dangerous and powerful being had put a time limit on his life expectancy if he failed to hold up to their bargain. His worries about his girlfriend’s mother and what the kids at school might say about him paled in comparison.  
He finally found two socks that almost matched and hurriedly put them on as he was going down the hallway towards the stairs. Before he descended the steps, he stopped and tried to calm himself. The sight of the box sent him into such a panic his heart was fluttering in his chest like a trapped bird. He took several deep breaths to get his pulse down and reassured himself that everything would turn out fine, that he and Sarah would find a way to beat him. Gripping the iron key around his neck for comfort he evenly made his way downstairs.  
He found his parents in the kitchen, hovering over the newspaper with very pleased looks on their faces. They both looked up when he entered, faces beaming with smiles.  
“Oh, Toby honey, look! Your retraction is in the newspaper today!” his mother exclaimed merrily.  
His father handed him the newspaper. “They went all out on it,” he commented in a satisfied tone. “They apologized for everything and cleared your name on all accounts. I hope Frank Gillepsie is choking on his coffee reading it.”  
Toby eagerly read through the retraction. It was everything he could have asked for. It cleared his name of the reckless driving and dui, accepted accountability for the gross misconstruing of the whole event and apologized to both him and his family for the inconvenience the article might have caused them. Short of an official butt kissing ceremony, they did all they could to appease him.  
The retraction lifted his spirits considerably. He sat down at the table and poured himself a glass of milk. At that moment, his dad glanced at his watch and stood up.  
“And on that good note, I better get going,” he announced. He drained the last of the coffee in his cup and picked up his briefcase.  
“You’re leaving so soon?” his mother asked.   
He gave his wife a quick peck on the cheek. “I got to get to the office to look over this new Sonim account. It’s a doozey. I’ll probably be late for dinner too, so don’t wait for me.”  
His mother just nodded as his father headed out the door. She turned and looked at her son. He could see the irritation in her face.  
“I was hoping that he could drive you to school today since it is your first day back after your accident and all,” she said a little sullenly. Then under her breath, “I can’t believe he’d put work ahead of his own son!”  
Karen Williams may not have meant for her son to hear her but he did none the less. Fidgeting in his chair a little, he tried to alleviate the conversation.  
“Really mom, it’s no big deal. I can just ride the bus.”  
His mother smiled at him affectionately. “You’re such a good boy; I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’ll have your breakfast ready in just a sec.”  
The rest of breakfast went by peacefully enough and then it was time for Toby to catch the bus. His mother kissed him on the check before he headed out the door (something she hadn’t done since he was in the fifth grade when he declared bye-bye kisses to be babyish) and he walked to the end of their sidewalk to the waiting bus. As he entered the bus, a distinct hush came over the other riders. As Toby walked down the aisle he could feel the eyes of all the other students on him. Ignoring their stares, he pressed on to the back of the bus where there was an empty seat. Once he was seated, the bus lurched forward to life and continued on its route. After awhile, the stares stopped and the chatter on the bus returned.   
At school, he was welcomed with mixed responses as he walked through the hall to his locker. Some people stared and whispered as he passed by. Others, some he didn’t have any personal interaction with before that day, addressed him with kindly greetings asking him how he was doing. One or two underclassmen even had the poor judgment to ask him to tell them what happened. Toby disregarded the latter questions and absorbed the reactions evenly. As he walked down the hall he acknowledged only the friendly addresses and ignored those that responded negatively towards him.   
He came to terms that this would be his lot for awhile. He knew he would be the center of attention, whether it was good or bad, and he had mentally prepared for it. Trying to stay positive, he ceded to himself that it wasn’t as bad as he had been anticipating. Sure, he would be in the spotlight for awhile but eventually all the interest would die down and something else would come around to get the masses’ attention. He just had to ride it out.  
Toby just kept his head up and continued down the hall towards his locker, seemingly immune to the gawking and murmurings. When he reached his locker it was surrounded by a small crowd of his friends and teammates, Shane among them. They called out to him amicably as he approached.  
Everybody expressed how glad they were that he was back and offered their sympathy over what happened. Now that the rift between he and Shane had been healed, many of the boys that had sided with Shane during their fight where there offering their support and commiserations, all hostilities forgotten. Toby was glad for all their encouragement. Their welcome did much to ease his anxiety.  
Even though he would have liked to stay in the sanctity of his friends, there was one pressing matter of business he was most eager to get to: seeing Angie. When the time of her bus arrival was imminent, he excused himself from the group to meet her at her locker.   
He spotted her from a distance standing at her locker with Jennifer Conner and Candace Shaw. Angie’s back was towards him so she didn’t see his approach but the other two girls did. Toby could tell by the look on their faces that he wasn’t their favorite person at the moment. The larger senior said something to Angie which caused her to turn around and see him coming. She almost immediately turned back to her friends and he could see them conversing back and forth. The discussion ended with Candace mouthing a short sentence as she shot Toby a stony look. Angie merely nodded her head and then the two girls retreated down the hallway casting disparaging looks at him as they went.  
With butterflies in his stomach, Toby came up next to his girlfriend and gave her a lax smile.  
“Hey,” he said a little awkwardly.  
“Hey,” she responded back as she rooted through her locker.  
Toby stood there, unsure how to proceed.   
“So I tried calling you Sunday,” he confronted her carefully. “You didn’t return my call.”  
Angie stopped rummaging and turned towards him. She cast her gaze downwards and brushed her hair behind her ear nervously.  
“I didn’t get the message,” she said. He could tell she was lying.  
Toby just nodded his head.  
“I tried calling you last night too. Didn’t you get that message either?”  
She looked up at him uncomfortably. “I was busy.”  
This was not the answer he was looking for. He hmm’ed at her response but said nothing else. Angie could tell that he wasn’t buying her excuses and she became agitated.  
“Listen, I’m sorry that I didn’t call you back but I had other things on my mind!” she snapped. “Not least of them being Maggie’s funeral!”  
Toby looked as though he had just been punched. She wounded him worse than the kids at Gino’s or Frank Gillepsie ever could.  
He took a step closer to her so that only she could hear him. “Nobody is more sorry for what happened to Maggie than I am,” his voice was low but she could still hear the hurt in it. “I know a lot of people think it should have been me instead but it wasn’t.” His tone lowered another pitch as he added, “If I could take her place, I would.”  
Angie was taken aback at his declaration and her expression softened at his words.   
“That’s not what I meant,” she said in a quiet voice. “I’m just having a hard time coping with it is all. This has been really tough on me,” she said brokenly, her eyes glistening with tears. “She was one of my best friends. I know I should have called you but with everything that happened – I just couldn’t.”  
Toby was crestfallen but he could understand where she was coming from. Even though he could understand it, it still didn’t excuse it.  
“I’ve been having a hard time with it too you know,” he muttered truthfully. “I really needed you Angie. Why didn’t you come see me?”  
“I wanted to,” she tried to explain, “But my mom wouldn’t let me. Toby, she said I wasn’t allowed to see you anymore.”  
He felt his heart sink as if a large stone were anchored to it.   
“But the newspaper printed a new report saying it wasn’t my fault!” he protested frantically. “She can’t blame me for that now! Tell her!”  
Angie placed her hands on both sides of his face trying to calm him. The gesture quieted him momentarily.  
“I know,” she soothed, “I’ll tell her, just take it easy. I’ll explain to her that the first print up was a mistake and show her the reprint. Don’t worry.” She gave him a comforting smile. “But until she comes around, I think it best you don’t call the house or stop by for awhile.” He opened his mouth to lodge a complaint but she cut him off. “Just until she gets over this, okay?”  
She looked at him imploringly. He really didn’t have any choice in the matter. With a glum sigh he nodded his head in agreement. She smiled briefly at him then stood on her tippy toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. At that moment the bell rang and they had to part for their homerooms.  
The school day went by with few incidents. Though there were some that for whatever reason chose to disregard the newspaper’s recantation and partake in mean spirited gossip, for the most part, the general populace of the school had seen the retraction and was of the opinion that the wreck was a blameless accident and treated him with compassion. Even crotchety old Mrs. Bach was nicer to him than usual, allowing him an extra day to get caught up on his reading. The only notable exceptions to this were the girls on the field hockey team and Maggie’s friends. Throughout the day he would pass one or more of them in the hallway that would give him a dirty look or whisper rudely behind their hand about him. The worst by far was Candace Shaw who openly showed her contempt for him. Her dislike for him was so intense that Toby felt too uncomfortable to sit with Angie at the lunch table they shared with them and instead joined his friends at their table. Even then the senior girl glowered at him from across the cafeteria and if looks could kill Toby felt certain he would be a corpse.  
By the end of the day, Toby had more than enough with living in a fishbowl and was glad to be going home, even if he did have to ride home on the bus. When it pulled up to his stop, he could see that his mother’s car was missing from the driveway. He was silently relieved to have the house to himself for awhile. After the day he had, he wanted some time alone before having to answer the inevitable questions his mother would ask.   
As he was jostling with his keys to get the door open, Toby could hear the phone ringing inside the house. Thinking that it might be Sarah with some new information, he rushed to get the lock to accept his key. Three rings, then four. The answering machine would pick up on the fifth. He had just gotten the door open when the phone rang for the fifth time and he could hear his father’s voice on the answering machine.   
Toby dropped his bag at the door and ran to the phone picking it up before the caller could leave a message.  
“Hello?” he said anxiously into the receiver.  
He was disappointed when the voice on the other end of the line wasn’t his sister’s.  
“Hello? This is Gerald Hostetter with Pennsylvania State University Admissions Office,” the noticeably male voice informed him, “Is Tobias Williams available?”  
“You got him.”   
He felt fairly sure he knew what the phone call was about. The university was calling to see if he was going to take them up on the scholarship and be enrolling at Penn State the next fall. With everything that was going on in his life lately, all thoughts of college had been put on the back burner. It just didn’t seem that important. But he knew he would have to make a decision.   
“Yes, well Mr. Williams, I’m calling you in regards to the football scholarship that was offered to you –”  
“I know, I know,” Toby interrupted before the man could start inveigling, “It’s just, there have been a lot of things going on over here and I haven’t really decided yet so if you could just give me a little more time to think it over I’ll give you an answer as soon as I can. I promise.”  
There was a long drawn out silence on the phone.  
“Mr. Williams, that’s not what this call is about,” the man told him slowly. Toby was confused.  
“I was calling you today to inform you that we are going to have to retract the scholarship that was proffered to you.”  
His jaw hit the floor.  
“Wh- what?” he stuttered out in disbelief. “Why?”  
“It seems that we have reached our enrollment limit for football scholarships already,” he told him, sounding as if he had been rehearsing the line. “We’re very sorry.”  
His mind raced with the information he was given. He couldn’t believe what he had heard! This couldn’t be happening, it just couldn’t! The only thing that convinced him this all wasn’t some really bad dream was that he was still clothed.  
As Toby stood there, speechless, trying to grasp what the man just told him, an ominous suspicion presented itself.  
“This is about the accident, isn’t it?” he charged.  
There was dead silence on the line and Toby knew he had hit the mark.  
“I WASN’T DRUNK!” he shouted into the phone. “The newspaper had it wrong!”  
“Mr. Williams, I hardly think –”  
“Oh please, spare me the bullshit!” he remarked dryly. “And just call me Toby. I insist when somebody’s about to put the fucks to me, that they call me by my first name.”  
“Well then Toby,” the man drawled out with forced civility, “Perhaps that’s something you need to address your local newspaper about, not me. As it stands, we are at our limit for football scholarships and simply cannot accommodate you.” He added, with an unlimited amount of smugness, “Besides, here at Penn State, we expect our athletes to carry themselves with a certain degree of respectability. We can’t have someone like you blemishing our athletics department.”  
Before he had a chance to make a comeback, the line went dead. He slammed the phone down in its cradle and leaned his back against the wall, sliding down it into a half crouching/half sitting position. He thumped the heel of his palm against his forehead in powerless frustration.  
Why the hell was this happening to him?  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
“Man that sucks.”  
Those were the sentiments of Shane McCalaster when Toby told him about the phone call he got from PSU the day before.   
Other than his parents and Sarah, Shane was the fourth person he briefed on the call. His mother was the first. She had gotten home about ten minutes after Toby got the call. She saw him still hunkered down below the telephone hanging on the kitchen wall as she walked through the door with bags of groceries in her hands. She immediately jumped to the conclusion that he was having a reoccurring health injury from the accident. Once Toby assured her that he wasn’t hurt, he told her about the rejection call from Penn State. She responded to the news with anger and disappointment and immediately got on the phone to the college’s admissions office. But the call was in vain. After being shuffled from one office administrator to another and sitting on hold for twenty-five minutes, she finally got tired of waiting and hung up the phone, resigning to let his father handle it.   
His dad didn’t arrive home from work until almost seven o’clock, which by then, the admissions office was closed. His mother, still agitated from the run around they had given her, criticized his father for not getting home early enough so he could handle the situation. His father now agitated from the verbal lashing he got from his wife, told her to get off his back and that he would call them the next day.   
He told Sarah when she called that night with her daily update. While she was indignant over their treatment of her brother, she was more concerned about the reappearance of the bracelet in his sock drawer.   
“Damn him!” she swore into the phone. “Did he get after you in any other way?”  
“No,” he confirmed, “I just went into my room this morning to get some clothing and there it was hidden in my sock drawer. I don’t even know when he might have put it in there!”   
Sarah was silent for awhile. When she spoke again, there was no comfort in her words.  
“This isn’t good,” she groaned, “This isn’t good at all.”  
A horrifying idea occurred to Toby.  
“You don’t think he’ll come back for me early do you?” his voice trembled. The thought of him having another encounter with Jareth chilled him to his very soul. “You don’t think he’ll show up here before Saturday to….finish me off?”  
“No!” she exclaimed frantically. “God Toby, don’t even think that! He said you had until 2:23 Sunday morning, he won’t go back on what he said.” After a small pause, “Besides, he wants you to get me to wear that thing. If he….comes back for you, that would be defeating his goal.”  
He felt little hope with her logic. As if sensing his misgivings, Sarah went on to reassure him.  
“Listen to me Toby, I won’t ever, ever let him hurt you again.” she guaranteed him. “Don’t worry we’re going to find a way out of this. I promise. There’s got to be a way to beat him and I swear we’ll find it.”   
After his sister’s call, he wanted to call Angie and tell her his bad news but he remembered her warning earlier that day about calling or visiting her while her mother was rampaging about his accident. Still, he debated with himself whether he should try a fake voice and say he was someone else. He decided against it, which made Shane the fourth on the list.  
“Did you tell him that it wasn’t your fault?” the brown haired boy asked.  
“Now why didn’t I think of that?” Toby said sarcastically as he was shoving books into his locker. “Of course I told him that! It didn’t matter though. He said there weren’t enough scholarships.”  
“Well you still got MSU right?” his friend inquired. Toby nodded his head. “Then it’s no big deal. Either way you’ll be getting a free ride.”  
Toby knew Shane was right but he was still put out over the rejection call from Penn State. He didn’t like them judging him like that.  
“Yeah, well, I guess you’re right,” he agreed. “Besides, MSU has the best career placement services in the nation.”  
Shane stared at him as if he just spouted something out in Chinese.  
“Uh, okay there Poindexter, whatever,” he smirked. “Where’d you read that?”  
“None of your business,” he carped, a little embarrassed for using some of Angie’s statistics. “Hey, I gotta get going. I’ll see you later.”  
Shane knew that Angie’s bus had just arrived and that’s where he was headed. Even though the two boys had made up, Angie was still a sensitive subject between them. The shorter boy said nothing though he just nodded his head then turned up the hallway. Toby sighed. He hoped that some day they could all get past it.  
He walked down the hallway towards Angie’s locker. He got a lot less stares today than he did yesterday. Most of the students had either read or heard about the retraction in the newspaper and were willing to accept it and move on. However this did not extend to the field hockey team and they still viewed him as root of all evil. This was apparent when he came into view of Candace and Jennifer who were standing around his girlfriend’s locker while she took her coat off. They spied him coming their way and after giving him a few menacing looks retreated down the hall a bit, but didn’t leave. Instead they watched him as he went up to Angie’s locker.  
“Hey you,” he whispered in her ear as he wound his arms around her. “I missed you.”  
She gently pulled out of his embrace and turned to face him. “I missed you too,” she told him, almost dismissively.  
Toby shrugged off her odd reaction. “I almost called you last night.”  
Her eyes got wide and he could see her cheeks flush.  
“What did I tell you about calling or stopping by?” she reprimanded him. She seemed upset and he wondered why she was getting so flustered. “Not until after my mom cools down!”  
“I know!” he almost snapped at her. “That’s why I didn’t call!” Now he was starting to get worked up. He told her about the call he got from Penn State the afternoon before.  
“Well, it is their prerogative,” she justified, “They can do pretty much however they want.”  
Toby was stunned. Was she siding with those assholes?  
“Yeah, well it’s completely unfair,” he seethed.   
“I know it’s not fair,” she agreed, “But he didn’t say they were pulling it because of the accident. He said they didn’t have enough scholarships for you so there’s really nothing that can be done.”  
“Oh c’mon Ang!” he griped, “They’re withdrawing the scholarship because they heard about all of all the crap that was in the newspaper, which might I remind you was total bullshit!”  
Angie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh which irritated him even more. “Yes, we all know that the newspaper got it wrong. Everybody knows that.”  
Her curtness was beginning to get under his skin. What was her problem? Well if she wanted to act snotty, then so could he.  
“Well apparently not everybody,” he scoffed, “Your mom is still under the delusion that the accident was my fault!”  
Angie’s eyes flashed with warning and he could tell that he crossed the line. Without saying a word, she slammed her locker door shut and turned to walk away. Not wanting her to be angry with him he immediately backtracked and recanted what he said.  
“Hey, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he apologized as he reached out and laid his hand on her arm. She turned and gave him an impassive glare. “I shouldn’t have dragged your mom into it, that wasn’t cool. I’m just pissed over what happened yesterday that’s all.”   
“No you shouldn’t have.” Her voice was still hard but the storm in her eyes began to diminish. “I can see why you’re upset but you don’t have to take it out on my mom.”  
Toby looked down at his shoes, humbled but knowing she already forgave him. He looked back up at her with impish eyes.  
“I’m sorry,” he reached out and grasped her hands in his. His thumbs massaged the tops of her hands. “Here, let me make it up to you.” He leaned down with a teasing smile and kissed her.  
As he worked his lips against hers, he could tell that there was something wrong with the kiss. Though her lips were compliant, they also remained unresponsive. It was as though he were pressing his lips against a squish ball. He abruptly broke the kiss off.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his brow creasing with concern.  
Her face is beautiful but evasive. “Nothing. It’s just I promised Jen and Candace that’d I’d go over some Trig problems with them before class,” her answer came out smooth but her eyes were darting. “I have to get going but I’ll see you in AL.”  
She gave his hand a weak squeeze before she turned and walked up the hall to join her friends. Toby watched as she walked away and couldn’t help but notice that none of the girls were carrying a Trigonometry book.  
So for the rest of the day in school, he and Angie had very few meetings. Aside from their American Lit class together, there was very little interaction between the two of them. Wanting to spend more time with his girlfriend, Toby requested that they take lunch together. Since he was no longer welcome at their old table, he suggested they sit alone at another table. She declined saying she had taken a Science Lab that day and had to switch around her lunch period. Toby was disappointed, but said no more on the matter.  
His less than perfect day continued once he got home from school. As soon as he entered the house, he could tell his mother was in a foul mood. Thinking it was more bad news from Penn State, he asked her what was wrong.  
“It’s nothing dear,” she snipped sharply, but then decided to elaborate, “Your father just called and said he was going to be late for dinner, again.”  
Toby nodded his head in understanding and concluded that it would be best if he disappeared for awhile to give his mother time to cool down. He went upstairs to Sarah’s room to go over some books he had checked out of the library that day. He was still trying to discover what Jareth’s origins were and had broaden his search into the area of elves, bogies, djins, hobgoblins, sprites, gremlins and any other supernatural beings he could think of. He poured over the books for hours, not even pausing to eat. While his reading enlightened him on many different species of magical and mysterious creatures, he found nothing that remotely resembled Jareth. It was seven o’clock and he had almost given up until he came across a brief passage in one of his books that sparked his curiosity:  
The siabhra are considered to be the oldest race of Wyldfae. Also known as ‘Dark Fae’ they were cast out of the Wyldfae court due to their rebellious and malevolent nature.  
And there was nothing more.   
His skin began to tingle. Could this be the same word Jareth had mentioned? Siabhra, shivra. Perhaps they had been misspelling it the whole time.  
Toby scoured through the rest of the book looking for more references of these siabhras, but other than those two sentences, nothing else was mentioned.   
He scooped up the book and ran down the stairs, his eagerness all but overcoming him. This was it. This was what Jareth referred to himself as. He rushed through the dining room where his mother’s roasted chicken sat cold on the table and into the kitchen to the phone. His socks slid across the smooth floor and he had to grapple with the wall to keep from wiping out. He righted himself and plucked the phone up. His hands were shaking with so much excitement he could hardly dial Sarah’s number.  
The phone started to ring. One ring, then two. Toby rapped his fingers anxiously against the wall in anticipation. What was taking her so long? C’mon, c’mon, pick up already –   
The ringing stopped as the receiver on the other end of the line was picked up.   
“Hello?” was the familiar sound of his sister’s voice.  
“Sarah!” he practically shouted into the phone. “I know what he is! I know what he is! He’s not a shivra, he’s a siabhra! We’ve been misspelling it! I found it in this book –”  
“Whoa Toby!” she interjected into his babbling, “Slow down! Now what’s this about knowing what he is?”  
Toby took a deep breath and started over from the beginning. “I found out what Jareth is! He’s a siabhra, s-i-a-b-h-r-a. We’ve been spelling it wrong the whole time!”  
“Are you sure?” Now her voice was getting excited as well.   
“I’m positive. Shivra, si-ab-hra,” he annunciated the word for her, “They sound an awfully lot alike.”  
“What did it say about him?”  
“Nothing much. Just that these siabhras are really old and the got tossed out because they were too badass. I know this is him sis. I bet my last breath on it.”   
Sarah was quiet for the span of a few heartbeats as she mulled over his conclusion.  
“How do you spell that again?” she asked him. Toby respelled the word for her. He could hear her scratching pencil against paper as she wrote it down. About that time, lights from the driveway shone through the kitchen window announcing his father’s arrival home.   
“Okay, I’ll take this to the seminar tomorrow and see what I can come up with,” she told him. He heard the door between the house and garage opening in the background. (Where have you been?) “This could be it Toby. This might just be the break we’re looking for!”  
“God, I hope so.” (Don’t start with me Karen, I just got home.) “When’s that seminar supposed to be over?”  
“I’m not sure,” (I was just wondering what was so important that you couldn’t be home when you’re supposed to be.) “It starts at one and they usually run for two or three hours.”  
“Uh-huh” (I told you I’d be working late on the Sonim account!) “Well call me as soon as you get home.”  
“Will do,” she pledged, then gave him her love and hung up the phone.  
Toby could still hear his parents arguing in the living room. They weren’t shouting, at least not yet, but it was starting to get heated. He eavesdropped by the kitchen door.  
“So now you choose to work over!” his mother’s voice was getting shriller. “Now, when your son needs you!”  
“Oh don’t give me that Karen,” his dad rebuked. “Lay off the guilt trip. The boy’s just fine.”  
“No thanks to you!” she hissed out.   
“What’s that supposed to mean?” His words dropped like lead weights.  
“None of this would have ever happened if you hadn’t bought him that death trap to begin with!” she shrieked at him. “But no! You had to get him that car, now look what’s happened!”  
Toby’s breath caught in his throat at his mother’s words. A deathly silence fell over the living room. She went too far. Of all the fights they had ever had, she had finally crossed the line. He could only imagine what his dad was about to unleash.   
He listened, almost afraid of what was about to happen, but the only sound to come from out of the living room was the front door slamming. Seconds later he heard his dad’s car start up and drive off to who knows where.   
Now alone in the living room, Karen Williams burst into tears. The last he heard of his mother that night was her muffled sobs as she left the room and retreated upstairs to her bedroom.  
Toby just stood there, stunned by how quickly the argument escalated. The whole episode took no more than a couple of minutes. The fight had a sickeningly nostalgic feeling to it. His parents hadn’t gone at each other like that for years, at least not since he was in eighth grade, not since he had made his second wish.  
And then the second shoe dropped.  
The lost scholarship, the argument, these weren’t random acts of misfortune. They all had something to do with the wishes he made.   
Toby’s legs suddenly went limp and he slumped into one of the kitchen chairs, the blood draining from his face. His heart thumped painfully in his chest as he remembered the last time Jareth had ‘visited’ him. While he was being tortured, Toby had screamed out for the Goblin King to take back his wishes. Jareth only smirked at him and told him that he could return the gifts but he would still collect payment. That’s what was happening; the wishes were starting to reverse themselves.   
He buried his face into his hands, trying to shut out the truth. Everything was crumbling around him, his wishes turning to ash in his hands. He mourned the loss of them, as one would mourn the passing of a loved one, for each one was a treasured hope, now dead. Gone, like dust in the wind.  
But there was one that he refused to grieve, refused to even acknowledge the possibility of its demise and that was his third wish, his wish about Angie. He would not let their love be a casualty in Jareth’s twisted game. They would overcome this. He believed this with every desperate fiber of his being.   
He believed it because, even though they may be going down for the third time, a drowning man will still reach out for a life preserver.


	13. Chapter 13

PART 1  
.  
Toby awoke Thursday morning with a terrible weight hanging over his head. His parents were fighting, he lost his one scholarship and his girlfriend was avoiding him like the plague. And, oh yeah, there was a Goblin King out there that had threatened to end his life in three days if he didn’t hand his sister over to him. The day wasn’t looking too good for him.  
He went through his new morning ritual, of speeding through his room as fast as he could grab his clothing for the day and getting dressed. As he had for the last few days, he shoved a sprig of heather in his pants pocket and felt for the key he wore around his neck to make sure it was there. Then it was to his parents’ room for a pair of his dad’s socks. He hadn’t been in his own sock drawer since the day he found the box hidden there.  
He went downstairs and into the kitchen for his breakfast and found the table oddly bare. There was nothing cooking on the stove and the smell of coffee was distinctly lacking from the room. His mother was sitting at the table, still in her robe, her frazzled appearance gave the impression she had a rough night.  
She looked up at him as he entered.  
“I haven’t made anything for breakfast. You’ll have to make due with cereal.”  
Toby went to the cupboard and pulled out his favorite cereal and sat it out on the table. Then he went to the fridge for milk and saw last night’s dinner carefully wrapped and untouched. The implication was clear.  
“So I guess dad didn’t come home last night?” he asked even though he knew the answer.  
His mother said nothing, merely shook her head. He seated himself across the table from her, careful not to make eye contact. He knew the polite thing, the caring thing, would be to console her and tell her that he was just cooling off and when he came home everything would be okay. But that was not a conversation he wanted to have this morning. Trying to cheer someone else up would have been futile, seeing that he was on the brink of desolation himself. Instead, Toby bent his head to the task of consuming his cereal, preferring not to speak. His mother seemed to be of the same understanding. She said nothing more to her son and picked up the newspaper to scan its sections. That was how it stayed until it was time for Toby to catch the bus, both of them sitting in silence, alone in their own cells of despair.  
Once at school, things continued on the same dismal path as at breakfast. Angie was still acting distant towards him, which tore at his heart. He tried to tell himself that it was nothing, that he was just being paranoid. That Angie and his relationship was more than just an avaricious wish made by an impetuous teenaged boy. That they would endure, somehow, even when the other wishes had run their course and finally went down in flames. He persuaded himself that he and Angie would come out the other side, intact and stronger for it. He knew it was a hopeless dream but one he couldn’t bear to let go of.  
All his friends could tell that there was something wrong with him. Most of them attributed it to him being on the outs with Angie with a few speculating as to why. Some tried to cheer him up but when that failed they opted for avoiding him instead. All except for Shane that is. While he couldn’t diagnose exactly what was wrong with his friend, he was sure that whatever it was, Toby could use someone to be by him. So for the whole day, he walked with him to his classes and sat with him at lunch, providing whatever reprise he could for his friend. Toby was aware of what the brown haired boy was doing and a small part of him was glad for it. Even though he was beyond all condoling, he was thankful that Shane was by his side.  
He went through much of the day that way, in a grief induced daze, fearful that at any moment the rest of his world might fall apart. He even took to avoiding Angie, reasoning the less interaction they had, the less likely a break up was. If he could just keep the situation managed long enough until he and Sarah could find a way to beat the Goblin King, everything would turn out okay.   
A week ago he would have thought the idea ridiculous and impossible, after all, how do you go about not talking to your girlfriend? But it was remarkably easy for him not to talk with her, easier than he would have imagined. In the morning, instead of meeting her at her locker, he simply stayed in the company of his friends. During American Lit, the only class they shared together, Toby had to do a make up test and was sent to the back of the room away from the rest of the class. They had been sitting separately at lunch for the week anyhow so that was nothing different. The day passed by with the two saying nary a word to the other. In fact, Toby was nearly astonished with how effortless it was to evade her.  
By the end of the day, nothing too traumatic or monumental had happened and Toby was beginning to feel a little more at ease. The final bell had just rung and he and Shane were packing up the necessary books for their allotted homework for the night. Well, Shane did anyhow. Toby had been neglecting his homework all week. Most of his teachers charitably overlooked his missing homework, excusing him because of the accident. But now, after a few days of blown off assignments and no attempts to make them up, even the most kind hearted of his teachers were starting to get peeved. Toby didn’t care. He had much more urgent matters at hand. He was busy concentrating all his spare time on how to defeat the Goblin King and save himself. In that perspective, missing a few Algebra problems and a report about the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 hardly seemed something to worry about. Besides, he thought to himself grimly, if things go bad for me, it won’t matter what homework I did.  
Pushing his dark thoughts away, he tried be optimistic. There was one small ray of sunshine in his bad day. Sarah was going to that seminar today and hopefully she would have some information for him when he got home. He felt a small burst of eagerness in his step as he and Shane walked down the hall to the buses. The seminar started at one and she said that those things usually run two or three hours. By the time he got home it would be around three-thirty, she should be calling him anytime between then and four –   
“Kill anyone else lately?”  
The brazen comment caught Toby completely off guard and shattered his private reverie. He whirled around to see who had made the offensive statement. It only took him a few seconds to identify the culprit. He recognized him immediately. It was the unnamed junior from Gino’s. He was standing by the lockers with a couple of books in his hands. He wasn’t alone either. His friend from the pizzeria was there, as were the two girls that had accompanied them, and an unidentifiable male that had a nervous grin on his face. The taunting boy had a smug smile and the girls giggled openly at him. Toby stood staring at them in horrified shock, uncertain of what he should do.   
He didn’t even have to bother.  
In a flash, Shane jumped into action. Before the cocky junior knew what was going on, Shane had him slammed up against the lockers, knocking the books from his hands. Smile wiped clean from his face, he tried to pry off Shane’s hands, which were fisted in his shirt. The girls immediately quit laughing and gasped wide eyed at the turn of events. His friend that had been with him at Gino’s just stood there, frozen in fear and nervous guy disappeared completely.   
“Do you think that’s funny?” Shane snarled at the frightened boy. “Do you?” he emphasized his question with a metal bang as he shoved the junior into his locker. Though the boy was an inch or so taller than Shane, he didn’t have the physique the senior football player did. He gawked at him with unfiltered fear, unable to verbalize a response.  
“You know what I think would be funny?” Now it was Shane’s turn to grin, a humorless, threatening sneer. “When I put your head through this locker!”  
Shane banged him against the locker again. If the boy wasn’t scared before, he was definitely scared now. The look was gratifying enough for Toby.  
“C’mon Shane, let him go, he’s not worth it.” With a little afterthought, “Besides, shit splatters.”  
Shane glared at the boy for a few seconds longer then released him with an angry flourish. With the danger subsiding, the junior relaxed, ever so minutely, but was still extremely cautious around his aggressor. Then he turned and rejoined Toby.   
“Little pricks,” he muttered, as they continued down the hall.   
Toby cast a glance over his shoulder and saw the shaken boy berate his ineffectual friend while one of the traumatized girls bent down to pick up his books. For the first time that day, Toby smiled.  
Things were looking up.  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
When Toby got home, the first thing he did when he got through the door was ask his mom if there were any calls for him. She told him there wasn’t. His mother (whom he could see was still disgruntled) was occupied with polishing the silver from the china cabinet but Toby could distinguish it for what it was, busy work. He knew she was just counting down the minutes until his dad would be home. With a glum face, he tromped upstairs to Sarah’s room with his near empty backpack.   
Sarah’s call wouldn’t occur for another two and a half hours, during which time, Toby tried to keep himself from climbing the walls. His father’s arrival time came and went without any product and Toby was sure it was goading his mother to fits. He let out an agitated sigh. Though he couldn’t prove it, he felt certain his dad was deliberately coming home late to teach his mom a lesson.  
At five-fifty, Toby could see car lights flickering between the barren tree branches outside Sarah’s window. His dad was home and only a half an hour late which Toby hoped would in some small extent appease his mother a little, though he felt that wasn’t going to be the case. There was still the matter of his father not coming home the night before and he was certain his mother would have plenty to say about that.   
He wasn’t mistaken.  
As soon as he heard the door open and close his mother began to read his dad the riot act.  
“Oh, I see you finally found your way home,” her voice was low but he could still hear it quavering. “Where were you last night?”  
“I went to the pub to get away from you for awhile!” he snapped. “Then I went back to the office to work on the Sonim account some more and I fell asleep there.”  
“Well isn’t that a convenient way to cut back your morning commute! Do you really think I believe that?”  
“Knock it off Karen! Do you think if I was anywhere else that I’d come home looking like this? For Christ’s sake, I haven’t shaved since yesterday morning yet you got it in your delusional head –”  
“Oh, so now I’m delusional –”  
“Yes you are if you think I’ve been out tomcatting all night!”  
Somehow between his parents’ shouting, Toby managed to hear the phone begin to ring. Sarah. He leapt up from the bed and sped down the stairs. He whizzed through the living room, without even giving his parents a glance. Roger and Karen Williams were surprised and actually quit arguing at the unexpected appearance of their son. The phone was on its fourth ring when he reached it.  
“Hello?” he panted.   
“Tobes?”  
It was Sarah.  
“Sarah!” he exclaimed. “What did you find out?”   
A small pause on the line.   
“Lots.”  
His heart jumped in his chest.  
“Well don’t keep me in suspense! Tell me what you found out!” he pleaded with her.  
Toby had spoke a little louder than he had intended and feared that he may have been overheard by his parents. Easing the door open between the kitchen and dining room, he peeped out to see if his parents were listening. They were still in the living room, engrossed in the argument they were having but in more subdued tones.   
“Well, the seminar was actually pretty dull. Professor Kearn discussed how Gaelic folklore influenced the culture and how it was integrated into Christianity when St. Augustine arrived, and he mostly talked about the pagan gods,” he could hear her rustling papers. “But after the lecture, I went up to him and asked him if he knew anything about siabhras.”  
“Did he?”  
“Oh yeah.” Her answer made his heart pound a little faster. “We went out for coffee and he told me all about them. He told me that in Gaelic folklore, siabhras are considered the oldest and cleverest of all the Wyldfae, but they were also cruel and cunning. Their only interest was in creating chaos. He said they were once part of the Fae court, bound by its rules and laws but they got too powerful and rebelled, so they were thrown out.   
“One of them didn’t take his exile very well. He became more violent and unpredictable and started lashing out against his own kind. I’ll give you two guesses who that was.”  
“The Goblin King,” Toby whispered.  
“Bingo. He went on a rampage and started killing off other Wyldfae, which is a big no-no. But he was too powerful for them to rein in so they banished him to the underground and imprisoned him in the Labyrinth. He was blocked from entering our world on his own by magical spells and ancient relics. The only way he could ever leave there was if someone summoned him or – ”  
“If somebody made a wish,” he finished.  
“Exactly.” She corroborated. “He has to be invited to go between the worlds. He found a way to get around the safeguards but even then he’s bound to the Labyrinth and has to return otherwise he would lose all his powers.”  
Toby frowned. “Then how come he could show up those last two times? I didn’t call for him!”  
“I don’t know,” she sighed, “I asked Professor Kearn if there was any other way he could just appear but he was pretty sure those were the only two ways.”  
“Well that’s great,” Toby mumbled, “Other than that nice little history lesson, we’re no better off than we were before!”  
“But I haven’t got to the best part yet,” she assured him. “I asked him if there was any way that a person could protect themselves against a siabhra.”  
His ears perked up. “What did he say?”  
“Well, he looked at me like I was some sort of nut job,” she admitted sheepishly, (Toby mentally scoffed wondering what the good professor would do if Jareth popped up on his doorstep) “But he said that there are protection spells and objects that would keep them at bay. He gave me the address of a lady over in New Haven who has a shop that sells books and talismans and all that stuff! He said she’d have the kind of things that I’m looking for!”  
A feeling of euphoria swelled up in him.  
“Do you think she’ll have something to fend off the Goblin King?”  
“We’ll find out soon enough!” he could hear the excitement in her voice. “Can you say ‘road trip’?”  
He grinned. This was positively the best news he got in a long time! Finally, they were going to find a way out of his desperate situation.  
“When?”  
“Tomorrow,” she informed him. “Do you think you’ll be able to cut school?”  
At the mention of playing hooky, Toby went into stealth mode. He peeked out to see where his parents were. He could hear the television was on and spotted his dad in his chair, angrily flipping through the channels. His mother was no where to be seen.  
“Yeah,” he whispered into the phone.   
“Do you think you can borrow Karen’s car?”  
He answered in the affirmative.  
“Good. Then meet me at the parking lot next to the theater around eight. We’ll stash Karen’s car there and drive up in mine. And don’t forget to bring change! The last thing we need is to get caught because you didn’t feed the meter and her car gets towed!”  
Toby was about to object but then realized that it probably was something he would do.   
“Right,” he agreed making a mental note not to forget quarters. “How long do you think we’ll be gone?”  
“Well, it’s about an hour and a half drive to New Haven, and however long it takes to find this lady but I think I can have you back around the time school lets out. Just to be on the safe side, tell them you’re going to be staying late after school.”  
Toby began conjuring up excuses about borrowing the car and why he’d be staying after school.  
“I’ll ask her if I can borrow the car because I have make-up tests to take tomorrow afternoon.”  
“That’s good,” she approved, “That covers borrowing the car and being late.” She took a deep inhale of breath. “This is it baby brother, I can feel it! Tomorrow, we’re going to find out how to get rid of the Goblin King once and for all!” she uttered excitedly, “Toby, we got the bastard!”  
Sarah’s excitement was infectious and Toby felt exhilarated over the prospect of having this whole impending calamity behind him. For once, it seemed like he had a fighting chance! The dark cloud that had been hanging over him all week was breaking and he could see a ray of hope shine through.   
Sarah went through a few minor details of their plan then finished their conversation by reminding him not to forget the quarters. Toby promised that he’d bring a whole damn roll of them if it would get her to shut up about it and their call was ended.   
Toby hung up the phone and left the kitchen. His dad was still sitting in the living room, channel surfing. His mother reappeared from the upstairs. She coldly breezed by his father heading towards the kitchen, without even a glance in his direction. As she passed Toby on her way into the kitchen, she informed him dinner would be in thirty minutes. He could see that she had been crying.  
Toby thought it best if he made himself scarce so he went back upstairs to ponder what Sarah had just told him. He went into Sarah’s room and threw himself down on the bed, tucking his hands behind his head. His thoughts were focused on what might they might find the next day. A talisman that could ward off the Goblin King? Possibly some sort of a potion that would strip him of all this powers? His mind raced with the possibilities and an exuberant bliss came over him to the point he almost cried. Before now, he hadn’t dared even dream that there might be a way that could stop the Goblin King. The best he could manage was to keep the foreboding and despair at bay. But now there was a hope, a chance even, that they would find a way to beat the Goblin King.  
Maybe even kill him.   
The idea entered his mind more naturally than he cared to admit. He should be ashamed of himself, appalled even, for considering such a gruesome act. But what if there was no other way? What if the only way to stop Jareth was to kill him? Would they be willing to go to such an extreme? He had never been faced with such a definitive choice. If push came to shove, and if he had the means to, could he take the life of another living being, even one as evil as the Goblin King? By all measures, it would be considered an act of self defense and Jareth had threatened him with much worse, but to actually do the deed seemed reprehensible. And then there was the matter of what they would do with the body…..  
About that time, his mother called up the stairs that dinner was ready, interrupting his disturbing contemplations. Toby pushed the idea from his mind, resolving that he would cross that bridge when he came to it. His final thought on the matter, as he descended the stairs, was he would do whatever it took to protect either himself or his sister. No more and no less.   
Last night’s neglected dinner was on the table when he got there. His mother’s roast chicken (one of his personal favorites) was dressed with a potato stuffing and accompanied by sides of peas and corn. There were wheat rolls to compliment the meal and Toby felt pretty sure that he saw some strawberry pie tucked away in the refrigerator on the second shelf behind the eggs. If conditions had been more favorable, it would have been a dinner he would have relished.   
Once he was seated at the table, he noticed the frigidity between his parents. Neither of them raised their eyes from their plates and there wasn’t a sentence spoken throughout the whole meal. Toby sat on the sidelines, uncomfortably, as his both of his parents tried to freeze the other out. Though not even so much as a word was passed between the two of them, their silence spoke volumes. Toby could hear the accusations, disdain and mistrust as loudly as if they were screaming at each other.   
The meal continued in intolerable silence with Toby shoveling his food down as fast as he could so he could get as far away from there as possible. He only had a few more bites of peas and stuffing to go when his mother stood up from the table. He looked up at her sensing something was wrong. Her face was strangely calm and neutral in expression. Her eyes, which she kept carefully focused on the table, seemed sadly hollow.   
The words she spoke next had the finality of an atomic bomb going off.  
“Roger, I want a divorce.”  
Then she turned and left the room.  
Toby sat hunched over his plate in ghastly shock over what transpired. His mother just asked his father for a divorce. It was every kid’s nightmare, no matter what their age.   
He sat there frozen by his mother’s announcement. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t even raise his eyes to see what his father’s reaction was. He stared at his plate in stunned silence. He remained like that even when he heard his father’s utensils clatter down on his plate and his chair scraping on the floor as he got up. He listened as Roger Williams walked through the living room, out into the foyer. There was a momentary pause before he heard the front door creaking on its hinges and then the dull thud of the door against its framework when it closed.   
That was how the end of Toby’s family was heralded in. Not with a bang but with a whimper.   
To this day, he can’t even smell roasted chicken without getting sick to his stomach.  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
Friday morning dawned cloudy and dreary which, in Toby’s opinion, perfectly mirrored his mood.   
Restful slumber had eluded him the night before, his mind in turmoil over his parents. Hour after hour, the teenaged boy tossed and turned unable to find the solace of a good night’s sleep. At some points in the night he had lost consciousness, when his brain and body could no longer resist exhaustion, only to be yanked back into reality by his overwrought mind.  
Though he felt unreplenished, Toby nevertheless was ready to begin his day when his alarm clock started buzzing at seven o’clock. He tiredly got out of bed and went through his morning routines. Get dressed, brush his teeth, gathered up his backpack; same thing as every other school day. Only today he wasn’t going to any classes. Today he was going on a mission to find some way to stop the Goblin King. His whole existence depended upon it. It was the only thing on his mind that morning. Not his scholarships, not his parents, not his girlfriend. He was determined to beat Jareth, fixated on it. Focusing on the task at hand was the only thing keeping him from crumbling under the weight of his woes.   
When he finished his morning rituals he headed downstairs to put his plan into motion. As he crossed the living room, he noticed a blanket balled up on the couch along with frumpy pillow. Toby made the accurate deduction that was where his father spent the night.   
His father had come home last night, he heard him pull in at twelve-thirty, and eavesdropped the best he could on his parents muffled conversation across the hall from his room. Soon their voices became angry and he was able to discern the word ‘bitch’ quite clearly. Afterwards, his father left their bedroom, took a shower then went downstairs to his new sleeping arrangements.  
He entered the kitchen to find his mother at the stove, flipping what smelled like a banana pecan pancake, his favorite. His mother only ever made them on his birthdays or when he needed cheering up, like the time she messed up the dates and missed his solo in his third grade Christmas concert. The fact that she was making them the day after she proclaimed she wanted a divorce told Toby that someone had a guilty conscience.   
Good, he thought, that’ll make getting the car all the more easy.  
He went to the cupboard and pulled out a coffee cup. Skirting by his mother, he took the coffee pot and poured the hot, black liquid in his cup.  
His mother looked at him in amazement. Toby never drank coffee.  
“You’re drinking coffee?” she questioned skeptically. “You don’t drink coffee.”  
“I do today,” was his wry response. He took a careful sip from his steaming cup. The fluid was strong and bitter, reminding him of why he didn’t drink coffee, but on this day, it suited him.  
He leaned against the counter next to the sink. His father’s coffee cup was sitting in the sink already, evidence of his early departure. The sight prompted the necessity for his own hasty exit if he was going to meet up with Sarah on time.  
“I need to borrow the car.”  
“What for?” she asked.  
“I’m staying after to do some make-up tests this afternoon.”  
She flipped the pancake again, a slight scowl on her face. He could see he needed to give her a little push.  
“It’ll only take an hour or so. It’s no big deal. Unless you’re worried I might wreck your car too.”  
She gave him a pained look. He knew that it was a low blow but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.  
“That’s not what I was thinking!” she huffed, but to him her denial seemed overdone. Pursing her lips, she gave into his request. “You can borrow the car. Now sit down, your breakfast is almost ready.”  
Toby gulped the rest of his coffee down, burning the back of his throat.   
“Not this morning mom,” he said as he shouldered his bag, “I gotta get going.”  
“But you don’t have to leave for another fifteen minutes!” she called after him as he hastened out of the kitchen. Toby ignored her protests and snatched up her keys from the end table by the door. In a few minutes, he was behind the wheel of his mother’s car headed in the direction towards town.  
He pulled into the agreed upon parking lot ten minutes before eight o’clock. There was no sign of Sarah so he put the car in park and got out to feed the meter. There was an eight hour limit on the meter which meant they had to be back before four that afternoon. As he dropped two dollars worth of quarters into the slot, he felt certain they would be back before time expired.  
He waited in the running car for about five minutes until Sarah’s red BMW pulled up next to him. He cut the engine and hit the automatic door locks as he was getting out of the car. Soon he was situated in the passenger’s seat of Sarah’s ride with his backpack down by his feet.  
“So Tobes, are you hungry or anything?” she asked him as they pulled out of the parking lot. “We could stop at Micky D’s or somewhere and get you something to eat.”  
“Nah, that’s okay,” he said with a small shake of his head. Truth be told, he really didn’t have much of an appetite after the episode at the dinner table the night before. “How far is it to New Haven?”  
“About seventy miles, give or take a mile or two. We should be there around nine-thirty or so.”  
Toby bobbed his head in answer and let out a long yawn and a stretch. Car rides always did make him tired and after the sleepless night he just had, it was going to be a real chore keeping his eyes open on their trip.  
“Didn’t sleep much last night huh?” He nodded his head in agreement. “Me neither. I barely slept five hours, I was so anxious about our trip. I needed three cups of coffee this morning just to get me going. If you’re tired, you can put the seat back and take a little nap.”  
The suggestion sounded too good to resist. He could certainly use about forty winks. Toby unzipped his backpack to retrieve a sweatshirt he had in it that he might use as a pillow. As he dug blindly towards the bottom of his bag, his fingers brushed against something made of metal and velvet.  
He withdrew his hand so fast that one would have thought he reached into a bag of poisonous snakes. His sudden jerk caught Sarah’s attention.  
“What’s a matter with you?” A mixture of concern and curiosity was displayed on her face.  
He looked over at her with wide eyes. Be cool, he told himself, remembering her reaction to the bracelet, there’s no reason to scare Sarah too. He relaxed his face and tried on a sheepish smile.  
“I think I found that banana I put in there a week ago,” he lied, keeping his voice light.  
Sarah scrunched up her face in disgust.   
“Toby, eww! You better not get that all over my seats!”  
The shock of finding the box in his backpack drove away any tiredness that he might have been feeling up to that moment. He was now wide awake and more than just a little on edge. The appearance of the box frightened him but he didn’t want to upset Sarah so he curbed his fear and went on as if everything was fine.  
“So ah, what do you think this lady will have for us?” he asked trying to take his mind off the unwelcome parcel concealed in his bag.  
“I have no idea. I think right now we need to learn more about these spells that were used to trap him in the Labyrinth and what kind of talismans can be used to keep him away. Maybe she’ll have some in her shop,” she speculated. “Professor Kearn sounded pretty confidant we’d find anything we’re looking for at her place. Her shop’s called ‘The Knotted Oak’ and her name is Morgaine Darkmyst.”  
Toby cast a disbelieving look in her direction. “Yeah, I know, it sounds a little silly,” she quickly surmised, “But he guaranteed me that she was the one to see.” Sarah got a gleefully wicked smile on her face. “Maybe she can cast a spell on him that will make his pants so tight that they strangle him!”  
Her statement brought a smile to his lips despite himself. He knew she was trying to lighten the mood but he wasn’t so sure that this trip ought to be a fun one. With everything that was on the line, he didn’t feel like cracking jokes.  
“Mom and dad started fighting again,” he informed her rather bluntly.  
All kidding disappeared from her features. He hadn’t meant to be so crass but he felt she needed to know what all was taking place and his suspicions about why it was happening. He told her everything that had been going on, the fighting, their dad staying out all night and his mom asking for a divorce. He also told her how Angie was acting and his theories on that and the withdrawn scholarship. They discussed his week’s occurrences, sharing their opinions on the situation, for the better part of an hour.  
“It’s like the last three years never happened,” he concluded. “They’re fighting just like before only now its way worse. I think the wishes are reversing themselves or something.”  
“I think you’re right,” she said, agreeing with his analogy. “And I’m sure Jareth is doing all he can to heap a little extra misery on you for good measure.”  
Toby silently agreed. He had no doubt that Jareth had a hand in everything that was happening lately. He hoped that they could find a way to stop him while things might still be salvaged and before anything worse could happen.   
He perked up in his seat as an encouraging idea occurred to him.  
“Hey Sarah, do you think once we beat him, that maybe everything will go back to the way things were before?” he enquired hopefully. “You know, like in the movies, when the hero kills off the vampire and everyone he bit turns back to normal? Do you think it might be like that?”  
Her eyes lit with amusement but she managed not to let it spread.  
“No Toby, I don’t think that’s how it works,” she told him, holding back a chuckle.   
Toby was crestfallen. He knew it was a ridiculous notion but he desperately wanted to believe in it. All of his wishes were falling to pieces and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was standing in quicksand and sinking fast.   
Reaching out, he sought some comfort from his sister.  
“Sarah, do you think I can save my relationship with Angie?”  
She had none to give.  
“I would love to say yes, nothing would give me more joy than to tell you that, but I don’t think you can,” she told him remorsefully. “Toby, that relationship was built on a wish not on true feelings. Do you understand where I’m coming from?”  
Toby knew exactly what she was implying. What she was saying was he had manipulated Angie’s feelings and everything that she felt for him wasn’t real and now he was getting what he deserved. He didn’t like the implication, no matter how warranted it was.   
He shifted angrily in his seat. “Yeah, I get it.”   
Hearing the annoyance in his voice, she shot him down before he could fully sulk.  
“No, I don’t think you do and you can stop with the pissy attitude right now.   
“Did you think of what you were doing when you made that wish? Forget about what it did to Angie, which by the way was a crappy thing to do, but whatever kind of feelings she has for you aren’t real. They were…..manufactured by the wish you made, not true, genuine emotions, and is that how you want to be loved? Because a wish compelled her to love you? Or would you rather have her love you for just being you?”  
Toby had no comeback for her. She was right of course but he was too sore to admit it. He had never thought of it like that before, whether her love was real or not. It certainly felt real, in fact it felt fantastic, but now he was questioning if that was how he wanted it. He knew that it was not and somewhere deep down in his subconscious, he knew it from the start. He now saw the situation with a sense of clarity that had eluded him before. The flirting and pursuing he had done with Angie even after he had made his wish wasn’t for the benefit of making her feel special, even though he had convinced himself that was the reason. He realized now that all the flirtation and chasing was for his benefit, so that he could feel like he earned her.  
The revelation was a bitter one.  
He sat quietly in the passenger’s seat stewing in his own roiling emotions. Sarah could sense his sway in mood and not wanting to deal with a depressed and self loathing Toby, she sought a way to distract him.  
“We’re almost to New Haven,” she announced, interrupting his thoughts, “You wanna get in my glove box and take out the map that’s in there?”  
Toby opened up the glove compartment and laying on top a traveler’s box of tissues was a map of New Haven.  
“That’s it,” she told him. “Now open it up and tell me which exit I want to get off on for Whiteway Avenue.”  
Toby scoured the map looking for the street but came up fruitless.  
“There is none,” he told her.  
“What do you mean there is none?”  
“Just what I said, there is none. I see a Whalley, Whitney and Whinthorp Avenues but no Whiteway.”  
Sarah scowled as she reached into her purse and started rummaging through it, careful not to swerve into traffic. After a few seconds she pulled out a yellow piece of paper and looked at it.  
“He wrote it down right here: 1594 Whiteway Avenue, at least I think that’s what it says.” She handed him the slip of paper, “What does that look like to you?”  
He examined the barely legible handwriting. “I can’t read this chicken scratch! Looks like might be….. Whinthorp?”  
She let out an agitated sigh then her hand dove into her purse again. This time when she withdrew it, she was clutching her cell phone.  
“I know how to figure this out.” Her thumb pressed the scroll button several times. “Ah! There it is!” She jabbed the send button with her thumb and brought the phone up to her ear.  
A few seconds lapsed.  
“Hello?” she spoke into the phone as she steered off to the right onto the New Haven exit, “Is this Professor Kearn?”   
She listened briefly.  
“Oh, well is he available to talk to?”  
Another brief pause. Suddenly her eyes grew wide and she gasped.  
“Oh my, I’m so sorry! Is he going to be okay?”  
All the color drained from her face. Toby watched his sister intently, his curiosity piqued. Judging by the look on her face he could tell that the news she was receiving wasn’t good.  
Sarah listened for a few more minutes, her eyes wild with confusion. After a bit, she spoke again, sympathy conveyed in every word.   
“Well, I am so sorry for disturbing you. I hope he gets better and he’ll be in my prayers. Goodbye.”   
She clicked the end button and dropped her phone on the seat next to her.  
“What’s going on?” he asked once the call had ended. He could tell something was wrong and the look she had on her face worried him.  
Sarah turned to look at him, fear evident in her eyes. She was visibly shaken.  
“That was the professor’s son,” she muttered, still shocked, “Professor Kearn’s in the hospital. He had a stroke last night.”


	14. Chapter 14

PART 1  
.  
Toby’s jaw dropped.   
“You’re kidding me.”  
“No,” she assured him, “I’m being deadly serious. A neighbor discovered him when she brought over a package that was delivered to her house by mistake. She found him lying on his kitchen floor and immediately called 911.   
“His son said he suffered intracerebral hemorrhage,” Toby looked at her as if she were spouting Martian gibberish. “It’s when a blood vessel bursts in your brain,” she explained to him, “He’s gonna make it but it left him aphasic. The doctor says he’ll never speak again.”  
Toby soaked in everything his sister told him, shocked and speechless. A dark suspicion whispered in the back of his mind.  
Looking across the seat at Sarah he could all but read her thoughts as though they were his own. Her lips were taut and her eyes shifted calculatedly from side to side, as she quickly linked the pieces together. Toby knew he couldn’t let her get pulled down with guilt and self-reproach over this tragic incident. Thinking fast, he tried to distract her.  
“So how do we find her now?”  
It worked. His question snapped her out of her unsettling contemplation and brought her back to the task at hand. With hardly a pause, she picked up her phone and thumbed in another number.  
“New Haven, Connecticut,” she said robotically. “The Knotted Oak.”   
Sarah waited a few moments for the call to be connected.  
“Hello? Yes, I’m trying to find your shop and was wondering if you could give me directions?” a few seconds of silence. “You’re on Whitney Avenue, across from Kay’s Jewelers? Nope, that’s all I needed,” a few more seconds of silence accompanied by a baffled look. “Uh, yeah, the blessings of Isis be with you too.”  
She hung up the phone and dropped it in her purse.   
“Okay, get me to Whitney Avenue.”  
Toby bent his head to the map and started navigating his sister through the city. Other than the directives he was giving her (turn left at the red light…..you want to follow this road until you get to the Y), there was very little talk in the car. After her call to the professor, the mood in the vehicle became very solemn. Not that it was necessarily cheery to begin with but after hearing the news about his stroke, any airiness that was in their conversation was sucked out.   
When not asking for or giving out directions, the two siblings were quiet, each focused on their thoughts. Toby’s own thoughts were concentrated on what they might find at this shop that could help him with his Jareth problem. His mind once again re-visited the possibility he envisioned last night, that maybe, just maybe, they might find something that could kill him. While the idea of killing someone, even someone as wicked as the Goblin King, repulsed him the night before, after this new development with the professor, he began to rethink the possibility. Despite the safeguards Toby tried to put in place, Jareth was too clever and was finding ways around them to get to anyone he wanted and the body count was starting to rise. Who would be next? It was horrible enough that he already killed Maggie (he felt a pang in his heart as if someone reached in and gave it a hard squeeze) and the others. And though he couldn’t prove it for certain, he felt positive that the professor’s stroke wasn’t merely a coincidence. It would be a million times worse if he went after his parents or Angie! Toby knew that even if there was a way to send him back, he would always be looking over his shoulder, waiting for him to return. Jareth was like that shark in the movie Jaws; even though you can’t see him, you know he’s still out there, and every so often a body would bob to the surface to prove it. Perhaps that was the only way to be rid of him. Perhaps that was the only solution to stopping him, permanently.   
“Okay this is it,” he heard Sarah say as she took a left turn onto Whitney Avenue. “Keep your eyes open for a Kay’s Jewelers.”  
Toby buried his thoughts to the back of head and put his mind to spotting the jewelry store. His eyes scanned his side of the street. It was a commercial area, laden with clothing boutiques and specialty stores; peppered with a café or coffee shop every so many blocks. It was kind of odd to him. He hadn’t expected the shop that they were looking for would be somewhere so…..mainstream. He had rather imagined it to be somewhere more reclusive and mysterious.  
“There it is!” Sarah said excitedly as she spotted Kay’s halfway down the next block. Toby looked across from where she was pointing and there he saw the Knotted Oak’s sign front dangling over the sidewalk.   
As they drove past to find an available parking spot, he peered into the shop’s large display window. He could see several crystals, pentagrams and colorful swatches of clothes hanging in the window. Along the bottom were series of shelves holding bowls and different manners of pewter figurines. From the display window, the place looked mystifying enough.  
Sarah pulled into a stall a couple of cars down from the shop and they walked the short distance back. They entered behind a black haired girl who had loud red streaks and was dressed in a black duster coat that was cinched up the back. Toby mentally rolled his eyes. If the clientele was any indication, then they had come to the right place.  
“Let me do the talking,” she instructed him as they followed the dark haired girl into the shop. “Don’t mention anything about Jareth or siabhras, got it?”   
The bell above the door jingled as they crossed over the threshold, the freakish girl who was in front of them split off to the right. Toby gazed around the store with curious eyes. The left side wall was shelved with all sorts of bottles and sachets, candles and trinkets, boxes and chalices and every type of fantastical figurines you could imagine! A naked woman with olive spotted skin and webbed toes and fingers crouched on a porcelain toadstool which was surrounded by wicker baskets brimming with black stones. The walls beside it were garlanded with colorful scarves and tapestries that were adorned with magical runes and symbols. A large wooden disk hung at the center of it all with the image of a tree, which half of the tree was lush and fruitful but the other half of it was barren and withered. Toby felt sure that there was some sort of profound meaning behind it but he was damned if he could see it.  
Along the right wall were more shelves, except instead of housing candles and figurines it was stocked with books. Books of all sizes and content with titles like Spellcrafting for the New Age, The Herbalist’s Guide and The Way of the Light. There were several newer books on display, their colorful book jackets leaping out for his attention, but closer to the back of the store were shelves with older, more decrepit looking volumes, like one would expect to see at a second hand store. These were the books the amateur Halloween queen was looking at.  
Between the two walls were counters that contained more objects of mystery. Some of the things and their uses Toby could readily identify: a baby cauldron, some delicate vials that held oils of lavender and cedar (no eye of newt or frog’s wart), a crystal ball that was cradled between the heads of three resin dragons. Then there were other things that left him a little more baffled. There were sticks, ordinary, everyday old sticks, but they were wrapped with ribbons and layered with beads. Then there was something which he took for a sickle of some sort, except the blade was shaped like the crescent moon and the handle was polished white with a pink stone imbedded in it. He couldn’t imagine what it could be used for, perhaps defending oneself against a certain evil Goblin King?  
In the back of the store was a glass display case which held apparently the most expensive of her commodities. Ornate necklaces, dripping with semi-precious gems, silver daggers with snakes twining along the hilts, a much larger crystal ball that was being carried on the back of muscular brass man and something that he took for a ouija board but was written with no letters he could decipher. That little piece of arcane magic had a price tag on it for eight-hundred and fifty dollars. Toby’s eyes nearly popped. ‘Holy shit!’ he thought. He never imagined that things would cost so much! He frantically prayed that they would have enough money for whatever they needed.  
Behind the display case, next to a standing coat rack holding several darkly colored hooded cloaks was a doorway covered with filmy fabric and beads which lead to a back area. It was from that area that the proprietor of the store, Morgaine Darkmyst, emerged.   
Her appearance astounded Toby. He wasn’t sure what she would look like, maybe dressed in a pointy hat or in some sort of mysterious cloak, like the ones she had for sale, but this woman looked like a throwback from the hippie era.   
Her hair was a light brown, long, frizzy and she had a braided band around the crown of her head, taming her wild locks a little. Her face was round and pleasant with only the slightest of crow’s feet around her eyes to give away that her age was more than his sister’s. She was dressed in a fading blue peasant blouse, embellished with embroidery at both the neckline and bottom while the front has a criss cross tie with wooden toggle beads. It was quite billowy, doing nothing to enhance her modest frame underneath. She paired it with a flowing black skirt and beaded sandals peered out at him from underneath its hem. She wore a necklace with the same symbol of the tree that hung on the wall, corded with leather. On her hands were colorful markings which wove around her fingers down to her wrists. Toby was overwhelmed.   
“Lawen rydym yn cyfarfod,” she greeted them as she took her left hand and touched her index and middle finger to her forehead, then her mouth, then her heart and finally extending it out to them palm up. Her voice was slow and melodious but her words were confusing.  
“Huh?” was Toby’s inelegant response. She smiled warmly at him.  
“It’s an old Wiccan greeting. It means: merry we meet.”  
Toby considered regurgitating her first line of gibberish back to her but knew he’d only mangle it.  
“Uh, a merry meeting to you too, I guess.”  
She smiled at him and tilted her head forward a little in acknowledgement.   
“Yes, merry meetings to us all,” Sarah interjected and Toby could hear the impatience in her voice, “I’m Sarah Williams and this is my brother Toby. I was told by Professor Kearn that you were something of an expert in the field of Gaelic folklore and rituals and we were wondering if you could help us with something very important.”  
The new age witch had quit listening to Sarah halfway through her introduction, her attention focused on the raven haired girl who had her back towards them, browsing the book shelves. Morgaine’s first look was one of interest which dissolved into one of disquiet then aggravation.  
“I told you not to come back to my shop!”   
Toby and Sarah turned to see who she was directing her disconcertment at. The dark haired girl did nothing to even suggest that she heard the woman. She quietly browsed through the book that was in her hand.  
“You leave now before I call the police on you!” she threatened.  
The girl said nothing just replaced the book she had been flipping through back on the shelf. Toby was anxious to see what the girl would do next but was disappointed when she merely turned her back to them and strode slowly out the door.  
“Please excuse my abruptness,” she apologized to them, her calm demeanor returning to her once more, “I’ve had problems in the past with that particular customer.”  
Sarah nodded her head. “We understand. But back to the reason we’re here: I was told by Professor Kearn that you might have something that could help our situation.”  
The woman smiled warmly at them. “Such kind endorsement from the good professor! I will do my best to help you. What is it you would like from me? Would you like me to read your aura? Perhaps a spiritual cleansing? I would be happy to perform these services for you if you would care to set up an appointment.”  
“I don’t think that’s what we’ll be needing Ms Darkmyst –”  
“Lady Morgaine,” she corrected Sarah with a sweet smile.  
“Uh, right, Lady Morgaine,” she amended. “We were hoping you could help us get rid of someone who’s been….doing things to us.”  
“You mean a caster has been working magic against you?”  
“Ummm, kinda,” Sarah ran her hand through her hair nervously. “But it’s not a caster per se. They’re more of a….supernatural entity.”   
Lady Morgaine’s right eyebrow arched.  
Sarah let out an embarrassed laugh. “I know this probably sounds crazy to you –”  
“Oh no child,” she exclaimed, “It’s not that. I believe that there are beings out there beyond the comprehension of man, but it is my belief that they live in harmony with mankind.”  
Toby and Sarah shot each other a secret look.  
“Uh, yeah,” Sarah continued, “but what if one wasn’t quite as harmonious as the rest?”  
She looked quizzically at Sarah, not quite sure what the younger woman was alluding to. Toby had enough of all this beating around the bush.  
“Look, we got a siabhra after us. We were hoping you had something that would make him go away.”  
That elicited a confounded look from the Lady Morgaine and Sarah shot him a dark glance. Toby shrugged his shoulders and gave her a ‘what?’ sort of look.   
“Ah,” she sighed in understanding, “Now I see. I do believe I can be of some assistance to you. Follow me please.”  
Toby and Sarah followed her to one of the book shelves that lined the right wall. She led them about halfway down then stopped and bent to scan the shelf just below eye level. When she straightened again, she held a book titled: The Encyclopedia of the Fair Folk.   
“I think this can help you,” she said proudly as she flipped through the pages. “I penned this book with an exceptionally talented clairvoyant. Perhaps you heard of her, Eirene Pherousa? No? Well, anyway it has everything in here from the gentle fairies to the more devious grimlings.”  
“Ah, here it is, siabhra,” she indicted the page to both the Williams siblings. The writing was some type of old English style and there was an illustration on the page. It was a picture of a long, slender man with wispy blond hair, pointed ears and cat-like eyes. He was perched in a tree with an elongated finger, stretched out, touching a blackened apple. She skimmed through the lines on the page and read to them aloud.  
“I can see where these faes can be most bothersome. It says: The siabhras are part of the Unseelie Court and they love to roam among mankind performing all kinds of mischief on the unsuspecting. They are the pilchers of fruit, rotting them on the branch, and sour the morning milk. They put holes in perfectly good stockings and tie knots in young maidens’ hair as they sleep. If one is plagued by this particularly irksome fairy, they can be converted from their mischievous ways with an offering of ripe peaches. However, if they cannot be appeased with the fruit, then one can frighten them away by wearing a hood made from the feathers of a guinea fowl, whose shrill cries can hurt their delicate ears.”  
She gave the two of them a satisfied smile as if she had just handled negotiations for world peace. The brother and sister looked at her skeptically.   
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to work,” Sarah said tactfully. “We were hoping for some sort of potion or an ancient relic that might strip away his powers or banish him back to where he came from. Now, I was told this particular siabhra was imprisoned and kept out of our own world by magical spells so we need a spellbook or something that tells us how to send him back.”   
Lady Morgaine looked genuinely shocked over what Sarah had just said, leaving Toby with the impression that she thought his sister might have just slipped off the deep end.   
“My child, I’m afraid that’s not what the Craft is about,” she said, her tone laced with authority. “It is about ritual and nature. We seek enlightenment and live in peace and reverence with those of the more spiritual realm. These beings wish us no harm! They merely want to observe us and our daily lives. And should such a being interact with you, you should be flattered that they wish to share that with you, not threatened by it. Siabhras don’t want to actually hurt people with their antics; it’s just their way of getting your attention.”   
The two of them stared at each other in stunned disbelief, both speechless after Morgaine’s spiel. Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, he could almost hear Jareth laughing.  
Toby was the first to find his voice.  
“You gotta be kidding me.”  
She gave him a puzzled look.  
“What we mean is,” Sarah cut in before he had a chance to add on to his statement, “When I spoke to Professor Kearn he left me with the completely opposite impression. From what he said, saibhras are cruel and tricky and are only interested it spreading misfortune.”  
Lady Morgaine snapped her book shut and gave them a bemused look.  
“Oh Professor Kearn always did prefer to take a more gloomy outlook on these things, concentrating more on the negative folklore as opposed to their more playful and benevolent nature.” She practically flounced as she went past them. “They got some rather unfair press, I believe, much like witches and pagan followers. People like to demonize things they don’t understand and label them as evil. No, these beings aren’t evil, just misunderstood.” She placed the book down on the display counter next to the cash register. “Now if you truly feel that you are being afflicted by one of these beings, I do have some guinea feathers in the back. I just got a new shipment in today. And some prayer stones, I think, should help bring peace to your household.”  
Toby’s mind shut down from frustration and anger. This woman was a fraud; she knew nothing about what was after him. He felt overwhelmed with powerless disappointment. The whole trip was a failure.  
Sarah gawked at her for a moment, her mouth dropped open. After a few seconds, she recomposed herself.  
“Now let me get this straight,” Toby knew that voice and sensed a tirade was imminent, “We come to you for something we can use to protect ourselves from this deranged entity that’s chasing after us and you want us to try to bribe him with fruit and poultry?”  
Though she kept her voice steady, he could hear her struggling to constrain herself.  
Lady Morgaine was taken aback by the edge in her voice. She tried to calm Sarah with a maternal tone.  
“Child, you have to understand –”   
“No, you have to understand,” Sarah interrupted. “Do you think this is some sort of joke? Do you think that these are just sweet little pixies flitting around from flower to flower sprinkling fairy dust with magic wands? These things are real. Honest to goodness, flesh and blood, real, and they’re not worried about peaches or chicken feathers! These things are ruthless and evil, and they’re bent on murder and mayhem. They don’t give two shits about milk or socks! All they care about is spreading as much pain and misery as they can. Now is there anything in your fairy tale books that tells us how we’re supposed to deal with that?”  
Morgaine fell into a stunned silence and was unable to answer her.  
“C’mon Toby, we’re wasting our time.”  
Toby turned from the shop’s owner and followed his sister as she marched brusquely towards the door. They had just reached the exit when Lady Morgaine recovered her senses.  
“The blessings of Isis be with you,” she called after them.  
“You’re an idiot,” Sarah answered back as she opened the door. “Oh, and by the way, fairies bite!”  
With that, she roughly pulled the door shut, rattling the glass when she did. Toby could hear the bell on the other side jingle in protest of its harsh treatment.  
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
“Now what?” he asked as he hurried to keep stride with his sister.  
“I don’t know,” she admitted, her hand delving into her purse for her keys. “But it’s obvious that fruitcake doesn’t have a clue! Why would Kearn send me to that crackpot?”  
He snorted. “Because the prick didn’t take any of it seriously.”   
Toby felt a bitter sting of anger when he thought about it. The professor thought his sister was a loon just like the woman he sent her to. He was almost glad the guy had a stroke.  
Sarah realized her brother was exactly correct.   
“What a jerk!” she mumbled as she pulled her keys from her purse.  
He just nodded. “So how are we going to handle this?”  
“Maybe we ought to take a more…..forceful approach.”  
“What do you suggest?”  
“How about a gun?” Her voice dropped as she spoke and she gave him a loaded gaze.   
Though her response surprised him, Toby was almost relieved by her suggestion. They had tried the more mystical approach, and that produced squat in the way of results. Now it was time they go with a more realistic solution, though he wasn’t entirely certain if a gun would work on him.   
‘Well, if the gun were big enough,’ he reasoned, ‘and maybe if we use silver bullets…..’  
“I see you finally had enough of Lady Morgaine’s bullshit.”   
The voice (which was feminine) came from the alcove of a closed store front they were passing. They both whirled at the sound of it. There, leaning against the door of the abandoned business, was the dark haired girl who was expelled from the Knotted Oak, smoking a cigarette.   
At the sight of her, Toby’s memory sensors came to life.  
“Kaitlin?” Sarah exclaimed. The teen twitched the corner of her blood red lips into a semi-smile. “What in the world are you doing here?”  
She inhaled off her cigarette. “Call me Raven. And I’m doing the same as Toby, skipping school.”   
He was shocked to see his cousin but then remembered his Uncle Paul (his dad’s brother, Kaitlin’s father) lived somewhere in New Haven. For a split second, Toby panicked, worried that she might squeal on him for playing hooky then thought if she did, she’d be giving herself away as well. Besides, in Toby’s opinion, she didn’t look like the kind to go run and tell.  
Sarah chose to err on the side of caution.   
“He’s not skipping,” she lied defensively, “He didn’t have school today and we came up here to do a little Christmas shopping.” Kaitlin neither argued nor agreed with her explanation, just took another drag off her cigarette. Her reaction annoyed Sarah.   
“You know, you shouldn’t smoke, it’s bad for your health!” she snapped.  
The teenager finished her drag then dropped the butt onto the sidewalk and ground it out with her left heel. As she exhaled her smoky breath into the winter air, she replied:   
“So are siabhras.”  
Her response took both Toby and Sarah by surprise. He quickly shot a glance at his sister whose eyes expanded briefly before a guarded look slipped over her face.  
“What do you know about siabhras?” Sarah’s voice was so low he hardly recognized it as his sister’s.  
“Plenty,” she assured them, “A lot more than that Wiccan wannabe that’s for sure. She wouldn’t know a legit object of power if it was floating in front of her eyes. All she sells in that place is chotchkies and herbal teas.”  
“Then what were you doing in there?” he challenged.  
She reached into her coat and pulled out an old book.   
“Did you steal that?” Sarah asked in disgust. Kaitlin merely gave her a sly smile.   
Toby was unimpressed.   
“Well, if all she sells is junk, how do you know that isn’t a piece of crap also?”  
She thumbed through the pages until she got about halfway through. Then, cradling the dilapidated volume in her arm, she showed the page to Sarah and Toby.  
“That’s how I know it’s the real deal,” she said, pointing to an inked symbol at the bottom of the page. It was three wavy lines on top of each other with two dots above it and one below. “That’s the witch’s signature.”  
Toby was still unimpressed.  
“That’s not a signature, that’s just a bunch of squiggly lines!”  
She gave him a hard look.  
“They’re not squiggles, they’re symbols!” she barked at him. “Witches couldn’t sign their names because if any of their books or tools of the trade fell into the wrong hands, the neighbors would know whose house to torch! So they adapted secret names and writings to hide their identity. Only fellow witches could read it. This one’s secret name was Ebba, or ‘Flowing Tide’, just like my secret name is Raven.”  
Now he was impressed.   
Sarah was amazed. “How do you know all this stuff?”   
She looked at the two of them cagily. “I have a Domina I study under.”  
Sarah’s eyes sparked.   
“Do you think she can help us?” she asked hopefully.  
She eyed them critically, as if contemplating their worthiness. After a few moments she seemed contented.  
“If anyone could, it’s her,” she declared, “But I have to find out if she’s willing to see you. Do you have fifty dollars?”  
Toby was shocked when she asked them for money but even more so when Sarah started rooting through her wallet without hesitation.  
“All I got is forty-seven. Will that do?”  
She nodded and reached out to take the money.  
“What? Wait Sarah, no!” he protested. “You give that to her and that’s the last we’re going to see of her!”   
Kaitlin straightened her back at his words, which obviously offended her.  
“I’m willing to go on a little faith,” she stretched out her hand, offering the girl her money. “It’s not like we have many choices left Toby. We’re kinda running out of options here.”  
The girl took the money and with a fluid motion, replaced it with the book she stole.  
“You can hold that as collateral,” she told them as she eyed Toby with umbrage. “I’ll go see her right now. You guys wait for me over there.” She pointed to a café across the street called ‘The Java Jive’.  
Her request confounded the brother and sister.  
“Well why wait? We could just drive you there.” Sarah offered.  
“No,” she shook her head, rejecting her proposal, “She doesn’t see unannounced visitors. Just wait for me over there.”  
The pair nodded in agreement to her strange request. Satisfied, she left them standing on the sidewalk as she darted across the road between traffic to the other side. They watched her as she walked for about half a block then disappeared into an unmarked alley.  
Toby looked at his sister, a little confused over the turn of events.  
“So now what do we do?”  
“Now,” she said as she dug a quarter out of the bottom of her purse and plugged it into the meter, “We wait.”  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
Hours had passed and there was no sign of Kaitlin.  
Toby sat impatiently, drumming his fingers on the table while Sarah was engrossed in the book that their sixteen year old cousin had left in their possession. He blew an agitated puff of air out from between his cheeks.  
“What time is it now?”  
Sarah didn’t even bother to lift her head from what she was reading.  
“Its five minutes later since the last time you asked me.”  
Toby did the math in his head. It was twelve-fifty when she last told him the time. Now it was five minutes til one and still no Kaitlin. He was becoming extremely irritated.  
They had been waiting for a little over three hours now and she hadn’t returned yet. During that time, they had some coffee, fed the meter seventy-five more cents, took lunch and read a newspaper that had been left behind by another patron. After awhile, Toby tried his hand at the crossword puzzle while Sarah started skimming through the book Kaitlin left behind, every so often spouting out a tidbit she found interesting.  
“She’s not coming back,” he said for the umpteenth time.  
Sarah ignored his statement.  
“Yep, she’s gone,” he pressed, “She probably took your money and bought more cigarettes!”  
She sighed and finally looked up, leveling an exasperated stare at him.  
“Toby, she’ll be here, okay? Just be patient.”  
Toby let out another great huff of air and Sarah went back to whatever she was reading. Pretty soon she spoke to him again.  
“Listen to this:” she said, waving her hand to get his attention, “The ash tree, of which is rooted in the land of the dead and whos branches reach to the Everlife, tis sacred to both Light Folk and they who walk the Darklands. A rod mayst be fashioned from its branches to protect ye from the Fey, for a mere switch of the wood shall lay thine enemies still to the ground.”  
He looked at her nonplussed.   
“So?”  
“So, this oughtta work against Jareth!” she explained. “It covers them both, light and dark, and, if Kaitlin is right, this lady was a for real witch, so she should know her stuff!”  
“Yeah, but where are we going to get a rod of ash?” he asked condescendingly.  
Sarah rolled her eyes at him.  
“Hello? What do you think baseball bats are made of, genius?”  
That caught his attention.  
“Really? Are you sure?”  
“Of course I’m sure!” she guaranteed him. “Not all of them mind you, but I know for a fact that the Louisville Slugger C271 is.”  
Toby looked at her, baffled.  
“How do you know that?”  
“I played some softball in college,” she informed him, a little haughtily. “That was the only bat I used.”  
Inspiration struck him.  
“I got a Louisville Slugger,” he thought out loud. Caught up in the excitement, he followed up with, “We could soak it in holy water for some extra oomph or maybe just throw the water directly on him!”  
His statement broadsided her and she stared at him as if he were wearing a beanie made out of aluminum foil.   
“Or maybe not,” he said, avoiding eye contact.  
But it was too late.  
“Oh no Toby, I think you might be onto something,” her eyes were lit with a teasing evil. “Maybe he’ll melt! Oh, I can see it now – ‘Aghh! I’m melting, I’m melting! What a cruel, cruel world! Gahhh!’”  
Toby groaned. He really needed to think his ideas through before he voiced them.  
“The Wizard of Oz? Really?”  
She gave him a mocking grin.  
“You never know.”  
Before Sarah could ride him more about his temporary idiocy, the door to the café opened and in walked Kaitlin.  
Toby’s chest almost burst with excitement at the sight of her.   
Sarah waved to her, catching her attention as she scanned the café in search of them. She walked quickly up to them.  
“She said she’d see you,” she told them in a rushed voice, “But you have to come now.”  
The two followed their cousin’s lead and promptly stood up and fell into step behind her. Once outside they crossed the street and made a beeline for Sarah’s car. With a computerized ‘bloop’ the doors of the BMW unlocked and Kaitlin went straight for the front passenger’s seat.  
“Hey!” Toby began to protest as she settled into his reserved spot. Sarah cut him off before he could register more of a complaint.  
“Kai– I mean Raven,” her correction appeased the teenaged girl, “Gets shotgun. I need her to give me directions.”  
She gave him a conceited smile as he begrudgingly got into the back seat behind the passenger’s side. Bratty little witch. Well he didn’t care if she wanted to be referred to as Raven or the Queen of Sheba, he was still going to call her Kaitlin, even if it was out of spite.  
The three of them drove around the city as if they were being lead by a blind man. Kaitlin would have Sarah turn off into an alley and onto the parallel street only to have her cut across another alley and return back to the original street they were on. They needlessly switched lanes, cut through abandoned lots and backtracked numerous times. They zigzagged through so many streets that Toby was hopelessly lost and irritated by her senseless behavior. He was just about to speak up about her antics when she told Sarah to pull over to the curb and park.   
The street they parked on didn’t quite have that Main Street-Hometown kind of feel to it like the other ones they had just left. Instead of trees lining the sidewalk there were chain link fences. The buildings were close together and not particularly inviting. Toby got the feeling that this wasn’t exactly the safest part of town and opted to take his bag with him so as to not entice some of the seedier inhabitants of the area.   
They got out of the car and Kaitlin took the lead as she walked swiftly up the street. She ducked down an alleyway that even Toby would have been nervous about traversing in the later hours. The alley spilled out onto a decaying sidewalk on a street that looked like time had forgotten it. It was a residential area but not anywhere he would want to reside. Many of the houses were badly in need of repair and several appeared abandoned with boarded up windows, the life that they once contained departed years ago. There were few people out on the block, perhaps because of the cold weather but Toby reckoned it had more to do with the depressing location. It was shabby and bleak, yet they hurried along, rushing to a destination only Kaitlin was certain of.   
After a short jaunt, she skirted across the road towards an old house that looked as though it might have once been a stately Georgian home but had fallen into such disrepair is was a mere shell of it’s former glory. The house was split into duplexes with entrances to each sublet dotting the front of the building. Kaitlin ignored these and instead took them around to the solitary door in the back.   
The young girl opened the screen door and knocked seven times on the inner door, slow and deliberate, then waited a few moments before opening it. She entered the apartment with Sarah and Toby in tow.  
Whatever Toby had been expecting, this wasn’t it.  
After his stop at the Knotted Oak, he had a preconceived idea about what a witch’s house would look like. He imagined it with dusty old books lying around and a cauldron in the fireplace (a little stereotypical he realized) with candles lit all over the place and half a dozen or so cats lurking about. This place, despite its ragged exterior, was clean and cozy. The kitchen was small, but not crowded, and set up pleasingly enough. A table with metal legs was situated in its center with four chairs, which didn’t match, surrounding it. A breakfast bar was the only thing separating the kitchen from her living room, where they had entered.   
As simple as the kitchen might have been, the living room was not.   
Though it was larger, the living room was more congested with furniture. There were two French style chairs with a round coffee table between them, a leather ottoman and an old velour couch with a high curved back and curled armrests. Two smaller end tables were flanking the sofa, each with a lamp that had beaded lampshades and a large area rug covered the worn hardwood floor in the center of the room. Along the wall was an antique roll top desk with an enclosed hutch above it and a dresser that had been converted into a bookcase by removing the drawers. The makeshift shelves were filled with books, none as colorful as the ones he saw at the Knotted Oak, but he did think he saw a Danielle Steel novel among them.  
The most eye catching piece in the room was easily the large gilded mirror that hung above a rather unassuming chest of drawers. It was oval and very ornate. At the top was a carved face of a woman wearing a blindfold with satyrs playing pipes and dancing on either side of her. Branches with oak leaves and acorns cascaded down its sides. At the bottom, two built in candle holders jutted out which held burnt down stumps of black candles. It reminded Toby of a magic mirror that a wicked queen would use.  
Next to the mirror and chest was a short hallway which he assumed lead to her bed and bath. That is where she made her entrance from.  
If Toby had been walking down the street he wouldn’t have given her a second look. She was a middle aged woman with grey streaks blended into her dark brown hair which was pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her face was beginning to show the signs of old age but her eyes were bright and alert. She was wearing a tan crocheted sweater over a white top and a pair of black yoga pants. She looked nothing out of the ordinary. The only thing that he considered abnormal was the tattoos of a pentagram and a crescent moon on the tops of her bare feet.   
“Domina, these are the two I told you about,” Kaitlin announced. “They would like your help.”  
The ‘Domina’ looked first to Sarah. She eyed his sister up and down. Seeming satisfied, she turned her attention to him but when she looked his way a consternated expression covered her face. She stared hard at him as if trying to dissect him with her eyes and Toby felt a little more than uncomfortable under her gaze.  
Sarah could feel his tension.  
“Thank you for seeing us,” the woman’s eyes shifted back towards Sarah. “My name is Sarah and this is my brother Toby Wi– ”  
Before she could get any further in the introductions, Kaitlin suddenly broke in.  
“NO!” she yelled, nearly jumping between them. The two flinched back in shock at her sudden outburst.  
She looked to the older woman. “I’m sorry Domina, they do not know our customs,” she turned back to Toby and Sarah, “In the Coven we do not exchange our given names.”  
Toby was flabbergasted. “Why?”  
“Because there is power in names,” the witch’s voice was low and rough, as if she had just drank a gravel milkshake. “And to give someone your name is to give them power over you. That is why we use secret names to protect us from our enemies.”  
Toby snuck a peek over to Sarah to see if she was equally baffled.  
“I’m sorry, we didn’t know,” she apologized.  
“No harm done this time.” There was just a hint of an accent in her voice, though Toby couldn’t readily place it. She indicated for them to sit on the couch as she took a chair. Kaitlin remained standing. “My discipula tells me you need my help dealing with an unwanted entity.”  
“Yes,” Sarah cleared her throat as she spoke. “We have a siabhra after us.”   
“I see. And how was this siabhra summoned?”  
“Well, at first he’d only show up when I made a wish,” Toby explained to her, “But now he’s showing up without me even calling on him.”  
Her eyes narrowed sharply.  
“You mean this being has crossed over without invitation?”  
“Uh huh,” Toby nodded.  
A flickering look from her Domina set Kaitlin into motion. She opened the lid to the ottoman and pulled out several dark sheets with strange writing and symbols on them. Then she began to quickly hang them over the windows and the doorways, dimming the room considerably. Finally she draped the last of them over the large mirror.  
“Have either of you taken anything from him?”   
Toby dropped his head shamefully. “Yes,” he admitted in a small voice.  
The Domina was out of her seat and in front of him in a flash. Without warning, she gripped his wrists and turned his hands palm up.  
Her reaction frightened him and he tried to pull his hands free but she would not relinquish them. She examined them intensely, first the left one, then the right. She inspected his right hand closely, squinting. An apprehension filled her eyes and she suddenly released him as if he were hot.   
“He marked you,” she said it as though he caught a deadly disease.  
Toby stared at his own hands frightfully but saw nothing.  
“How can you tell?” he asked a little hysterically.  
“The mark can be seen by those who know what they’re looking for.”  
He held his hands up in front of his face and squinted his eyes. On his right palm, he could see the faintest glow.  
“Oh my God! She’s right!” Panic and revulsion coursed through him.  
“What’s that mean?” Sarah asked, an obvious quaver in her voice.  
“It means that this siabhra has claimed your brother for his own,” her edict was devastating. “A siabhra’s gifts cost nothing less than one’s soul. He’s using your brother as an anchor to this world. As long as the claim stands, he can cross over freely.” Her eyes are filled with harsh certainty when she looked at him. “You are his conduit.”  
He strangled a cry in his chest before it could betray his horror. He compulsively rubbed his open palm against his jeans as if trying to remove the mark. Seeing his distress, Sarah reached over, gripped his hand and squeezed it tightly.   
The older woman walked across the room to her chair and seated herself again, watching Toby the entire time.  
“I recognize the mark and know the being that stalks you,” her tone was hushed and cryptic. “He is an evil from the olden days that was driven from this world and cast below by the ancient ones. He preys on those unwary enough to call upon him. Through the years and numerous different languages, he has been called by many names, but always he is the Goblin King.”   
Toby was distraught. “What can I do?”  
“That depends,” she nodded towards Kaitlin who went into the kitchen. “There might be something you can do to protect yourself. Or perhaps nothing.”   
When Kaitlin returned from the kitchen she handed her Domina a pill and glass of water. She took the pill and popped it in her mouth then swallowed it down with half of the water.  
“Magic is a personal thing, particularly in the dark crafts. To perform magic against another, the caster must have a piece of the victim,” a decisive stare, “Has he taken anything that has been a part of you, such as hair, or blood or nail trimmings?”  
Toby thought hard. Finally he shook his head.  
“No? Nothing that contains anything of you? A discarded tissue, article of clothing, used chewing gum; something like that?”  
He started to shake his head in the negative but then he remembered that bright sunny day after Thanksgiving.   
“He has one of my old sneakers.”  
He felt Sarah stiffen next to him. She stared at him with worried eyes.  
“Are you sure?”  
He thought back at the havoc that befell their backyard and the brutalized trashcan. He remembered how violated he felt when he saw the attack on his one sneaker and the unease that came over him when he couldn’t find its twin.   
“Yeah, I’m sure.” His mouth was so dry he could barely form the words.  
Toby could read the answer in the older woman’s face before she even opened her mouth.  
“Then there is nothing that you can do. You accepted his gifts and he owns a part of you. A servant cannot go against his master.”   
All his hope was shattered in the span of time it took her to say those three sentences.  
Sarah, on the other hand refused to give up so easily. She bolted straight up from her seat, her shoulders back and head high.  
“I don’t accept that,” she challenged. “There has to be a way to stop him! Isn’t there some sort of spell you can put on him to keep him out? A talisman, crucifix something that will protect my brother from him? There has to be something you can do to save him because I will not just sit back and leave him to the mercy of the Goblin King!”  
The older woman gave her an incredulous glare.  
“I?” she asked derisively. “What can I do against the Goblin King, except build upon the spells that were used to banish him? Thanks to your brother, he breached those and until that tie is broken, there is no keeping him out! I can do nothing!” she looked at Sarah and an eerie light lit her eyes. “But perhaps, there might be something you can do to protect him.  
“Boy,” her attention was once again on him, “Is there anything left of the gifts he gave you, something that can connect you to him?”  
Toby thought back to his wishes. There was nothing tangible about them and besides, the Goblin King took them back after their last encounter.   
But there was one thing he left in Toby’s possession.  
“Yes,” he started digging through his bag that he had placed on the floor by his feet. “I do have something.”  
Sarah had settled back in her place on the couch and watched him curiously. Toby withdrew the red and silver box from his bag. She drew in a sharp intake of air, which did not go unnoticed by the Domina. Her attention focused on Sarah.  
“Open the box,” she commanded him, her eyes never leaving his sister.  
Toby cast a quick sideways glance at Sarah. She sat rigidly on the couch beside him, her hands gripping her knees so tightly that the veins on the back of them stood out. Her face was pained and she chewed on her upper lip and closed her eyes as if fighting some unseen force.   
Doubtingly, he opened the box.  
The woman watched his sister a bit longer then studied the bracelet. She motioned for Kaitlin to come closer and as the girl bent down to her, she whispered something in her ear that made her nod and look over at Sarah. The woman’s brow creased as a plan began to form behind her eyes.  
“Yes, this just might be the way we release you from his power,” she said with confidence. “Raven, prepare the altar.”   
Kaitlin went to the roll top desk and opened the doors to its hutch. She removed a rolled up piece of cloth, two candles and a bowl.   
“Follow me,” she told them as she went past them into the kitchen.  
The two of them got up from their spots on the couch and went out into the kitchen, where Kaitlin was unrolling the fabric across the table. It had a pentagram painted in its center and different symbols in each of its corners She place the bowl in the middle of the pentagram and the two candles on each side of it. Then she touched her index finger to each of the outer symbols and chanted something Toby didn’t understand.   
“Did you call to the four corners?”  
The question came from behind him and startled Toby that he jumped. His host had entered the kitchen with a bundle of what looked like dried leaves, some string and a very old book.  
“Yes Domina.”  
The woman lit the candles on the altar then placed the dried leaves in the bowl and lit them as well. Instead of catching fire, the bundle smoldered and left off a pungent smell. Closing her eyes, she began muttering in a different language.  
“What’s she doing?” Sarah whispered to their cousin.  
“She’s sanctifying the altar,” she whispered back. “The sage is used to purify and ward off evil.”  
When she finished her incantations she instructed Toby to place the box on the altar and open it. He set it down in front of the smoking bowl and lifted the lid.  
“What are you going to do with that,” Sarah asked. Her eyes caught the light from the candles which made them look like they were glowing. She stared at the bracelet, transfixed.   
“Not me, my dear, you,” she corrected. “You’re going to perform a Binding Spell. It will prevent him from doing any harm against your brother.”  
“Me?” Sarah gasped. “Why me? Why can’t you do it?”  
“Because he’s of your blood,” she explained handing the two pieces of string to her. “The connection is stronger and so the magic will be more powerful.”   
She gave Sarah a comforting smile. “Have no fear. There’s nothing to casting. Just wrap the strings around the bracelet and read from the book.”   
She slid the now opened book in front of Sarah. “You’ll do fine.”  
Sarah glanced nervously from the bracelet, to the book, to the strings in her hand then back to the bracelet. Toby could see the conflict that was raging within her. He knew she was afraid to touch the bracelet because of the uncontrollable urge she had to put it on.  
Reaching into the box, he plucked it up.   
“Here,” he said as he held it before her. “I’ll help.”  
She looked at him with a grateful smile and relieved eyes. She gingerly tied the end of the first piece of string to the bracelet, careful not to touch it. Then she began wrapping it around the silver cuff and read from the book:  
With the thread of the crimes   
of your own design   
I bind your evil   
Three times seven times.  
I bind you from Behind  
I bind you from Before   
So the pain of my people   
Returns to you threescore  
I bind you from the Left   
I bind you from the Right   
I bind you by Day   
And I bind you by Night.  
I bind you from Below   
I bind you from Above   
That you may never again hurt   
The ones that I love  
I bind you with your own   
Good conscience Within   
And so let this magic   
Unfold   
And spin....

She repeated the procedure with the second string until it too was wrapped snuggly around the bracelet. When it was done, Toby returned it to its box and closed it again. Sarah looked to the Domina.  
“Now what?”  
“Now, you go home,” she told them as she blew out the candles. “And I really must insist you leave immediately. Your presence here is drawing unwelcome attention to me.”  
Her words shocked them. That was it? Nothing else? Not even the damn candles to take home with them?  
“Wait!” Toby objected. “We lit a few candles, played with some yarn and that’s supposed to protect me from the Goblin King?”  
She turned on him, anger blazed in her eyes, and something else.   
“This is not a game boy!” she hissed at him. “We just cast a spell against a siabhra, and not just any siabhra, but the Goblin King himself! How long do you think it will take him to discover we have been working against him? How long before he traces it back to here? You put me in danger the longer you stay! You must leave now and do not seek me out again!”  
With that, she stormed out of the room and back the hallway she had previously entered from.  
“She won’t come back out as long as you’re here,” Kaitlin told them as packed the box back into Toby’s bag and started hustling them towards the door. “C’mon, you really have to leave now.”  
The light smarted their eyes once the stepped out of the dimmed apartment. Without giving them any time to adjust to the light, Kaitlin was already on the move, retracing their steps back to the car. Toby and Sarah practically had to jog to keep up with her brisk pace and within a couple of minutes Sarah’s BMW was in view.   
Sarah unlocked the car and they got in with due haste. Once he was buckled up, Toby looked at his watch. It was a quarter after two. They had best get going.  
“You wanna go down this street then turn left onto East Rock and that should take you straight onto I-91. Then it’s just a couple of miles to 95 and straight home,” she leaned on Sarah’s door as she gave them directions.  
“Got it,” she replied as she fastened herself in. She looked up at their cousin. “You’re not going to be in any trouble for bringing us here are you?”  
Kaitlin pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her coat pocket and lit one.  
“Nah,” she said with teenaged bravado. “She’s not mad at me. Give it a day or two and everything will be cool again.”  
Sarah smiled up at her as she began to close her door. Before she could get it shut, the younger girl grabbed it and leaned in.  
“Um, I think there’s something else that you ought to know,” she blurted out. She was fidgeting which was uncustomary for her. “My Domina told me that even though Toby might be the victim, you’re his target. Be careful.”  
Toby froze in his seat at her words but Sarah didn’t even bat an eyelash.   
“Thank you Raven.”  
The girl gave her a nod as she took a hit off her cigarette, then turned and walked away.  
Her directions were true and after about a ten minute drive, they were on 95 headed back home. For a long time the siblings didn’t speak about what had happened back at the witch’s apartment. Finally curiosity got the better of him.  
“Do you think it will work?”  
Sarah thought about it for awhile before she answered.  
“Yeah, I think it will work. But just to be on the safe side, why don’t you spend the night over at my place tomorrow night?”  
Toby understood her concern because it was his as well. Just in case something happened, he didn’t want his parents to be anywhere around if things went badly for him. The Goblin King could show up and he couldn’t chance warning them about him. The thought of putting them in danger like that was unbearable for him. If the Goblin King were to show up at Sarah’s there would be two of them against him. It was better that they test the fortitude of the spell at her place where they might have a fighting chance and where there wouldn’t be any innocent bystanders.   
And just in case, he’d bring his bat along as back up.  
Toby leaned back in his seat and recalled the bizarre events that had transpired over the last few hours. His mind kept reworking the ceremony and the volatile outburst afterwards. She was sure in a hurry to get them the hell out of there. Frantic even. It was at that moment he realized what he had seen in her eyes, just below the anger, when she had snapped on him.  
It was fear.


	15. Chapter 15

PART 1  
.  
When the reached the lot where Toby had stashed his mother’s car, it was a quarter til four. He had five minutes to spare on the meter. Sarah pulled up next to the car and he got out.  
“What time are you going to be at my place tomorrow night?”  
Toby thought for a moment or two.   
“I don’t know, sometime between seven and eight.”  
She nodded at him. “You don’t think you’ll have a problem borrowing the car again? Cause I can always come and pick you up.”  
He shook his head. “Nah, it shouldn’t be a problem.”   
“Okay,” she ceded casually. Then her tone turned serious. “You be careful. I got a feeling that we just poked a hornets’ nest, even if the spell does work. If you notice anything out of the ordinary or if you feel uneasy about anything, you call me. You call me even if you have a fart stuck sideways, you got that?”  
Toby couldn’t help but snicker. Sometimes his sister had such an elegant way of putting things.  
“Got it,” he agreed as he stowed away a chuckle.  
Sarah looked at her little brother awhile longer, seemingly hesitant to leave. Finally, she put the car in drive.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” were her last words as she pulled away.   
Toby got into the car and pulled out of the parking lot. During the ride home, he began to plan out the next day. He had a lot of things he wanted to do before going over to Sarah’s that night. Whether the spell worked or not, he didn’t want to leave anything left undone. If tomorrow was to be his final day on earth (a thought he didn’t particularly care to dwell on) he planned on making it a good one. He thought about spending some quality time with his parents then maybe hanging out with Shane later. But mostly he thought about Angie. He desperately wanted to see her, speak with her, and make things right between them again if he could. Surely her mother ought to have gotten past her misconception about his accident and let him visit her, but what if she hadn’t? How could she be worked upon to let him spend time with her daughter? He wasn’t sure if she would but he was determined to try.   
He arrived home a little after four o’clock. His mother was tidying the living room, a semblance of normalcy at least.   
“How was your day?” she asked him when he entered. “Did you get caught up on all your tests?”  
Toby dropped her keys on the end table and his bag by the stairs.   
“Pretty much,” he told her vaguely, without even a twinge of compunction. He was getting better at his lying.  
“That’s good,” a slight pause, “A letter came for you today. It’s from MSU. I left it for you on the kitchen table.”  
Toby mentally braced himself as he walked into the kitchen to retrieve the dispatch. He looked at the unsuspecting envelope on the table, tentative about opening it. He knew what it said already but even so he was reluctant about confirming his suspicions. Pushing his apprehensions aside, he opened his letter. He scanned the piece of paper that was inside.  
‘….we regret to inform you that due to an oversight, we cannot offer you an athletic scholarship at this time. If you would like to reapply in the future….’  
Toby didn’t bother reading the rest. He crumpled the offending letter in his hand, dropped it on the table and returned to the living room with his mother.  
She was waiting for him.  
“What did it say?”  
He sighed. “They’re withdrawing the scholarship.”  
His mother’s face was full of disappointment but also a little expectancy.  
“Oh sweetie, I’m so sorry!” her voice rang with sympathy. “Did they say why? Perhaps we can overturn it –”   
“Don’t worry about it mom,” he interrupted. “It’s fine. Really, it is. I wasn’t too excited about MSU anyway.”  
A relieved smile fanned across his mother’s face.   
“Well it’s their loss then,” she consoled. “And I’m sure there are plenty of other colleges out there just waiting to grab you up!”  
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re right,” he agreed. With hardly a separating breath, “Hey mom, can I borrow the car again tomorrow? I was thinking about heading over to see Sarah, maybe spending the night.”  
“Of course you can honey!” she eagerly agreed, thinking she was taking the sting out of his rejection. “I think that is a terrific idea.”  
Toby put on his ‘brave boy’ face as his mother gave him a reaffirming hug. The letter was no great surprise to him and, even though it was a letdown, he really didn’t feel as crushed as his mother supposed him to be. But if it made her more compliant about loaning him the car, he was more than willing to play the part.  
With an enervated ‘thanks mom’ he picked up his bag and headed upstairs to his bedroom.   
Toby approached his room with trepidation. Over the past week, his bedroom had become a symbol of his worst nightmares and he would have avoided it in this instance as well, if he didn’t want to be rid of the box so much. The cursed thing was still in his bag and there was no way he was going to hide it anywhere else and possibly pollute another room with its foulness. No, he decided he would make a dash into his room, deposit it in his desk drawer and get right back out again.   
He cautiously cracked his door open and peeked around inside. His bedroom was empty, which he pretty much expected, but there was something different about it as well. The feeling was tranquil in his room, more so than it had in the last several days. It seemed more like his old room and less like the portal to hell, which he had come to view it as.  
Toby took a precautious step into his bedroom, ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble. When nothing perilous was forthcoming, he took a few more steps inside. He gradually noticed a different feel the room had. Where it had once felt heavy with oppression; the atmosphere now felt lighter, fresher, as if someone opened a window and aired it out. The darkness that had previously shrouded his room had lifted and it didn’t feel quite so foreboding as before.  
He relaxed, ever so minutely.  
He headed over to his desk and opened the top drawer. Digging the velvet box out of his bag, he placed it on top of the desk. He eyed it distrustfully, wary of even touching it too much. Carefully, he lifted its lid.  
The bracelet was still tucked away inside, still wrapped in the strings the Domina had given Sarah, but now it wasn’t as striking, as appealing, as before. Where once it shined with an almost unearthly glow, it now seemed dull, less lustrous. Even the stone, which he could barely see between the cracks in the string, had no more sparkle to it that a lump of coal. It seemed like just a regular, old bracelet.  
Toby placed the box into his drawer then closed it. Instead of fleeing the room as he had intended before, he sat down on his bed in wonder. A sense of optimism began to pervade throughout him. The diminished allure of the bracelet, the serenity of his bedroom, could they be signs that the spell was working? Elation flared up within him at the thought of it. He couldn’t help but wonder if the spell would work but now, with the proof of its effectiveness before him, his confidence began to swell. Quickly, Toby stifled the exuberance that threatened to overcome him. Despite the evidence of its success, a lingering doubt if it would be enough to keep the Goblin King away from him entirely remained. And even if it did work, he still had that damnable mark Jareth put on him. He raised his right hand to his face trying to discern its imprint. Though he couldn’t see it now, he knew it was still there, just beneath the skin. He rubbed his left index finger over his palm. The spell might keep him and his family safe but how far did its protection extend? If Jareth could still use him a linchpin to this world, what’s to stop him from going after someone else, like Shane and his friends? What if he went after Angie?  
The thought brought goose bumps out on his arms.  
The sharp ringing of the telephone downstairs brought him out of his ominous contemplation. A trill of anxiety sped through him. What if it was the school calling, wondering why he wasn’t in classes today? He had never considered them calling to check up on him (and under different circumstances he wouldn’t think that now) but he was working under a guilty conscience and a fear of being caught. Finding out he had skipped would definitely put the kibosh to his plans for tomorrow. He anxiously listened by his bedroom door hoping for a clue as to who was on the other end of the line. His worries were quickly quelled when his mother called up the stairs to him.  
“Toby! It’s Angie on the phone!”  
His brain stuttered for a second before it completely processed what his mother had just said. Angie? Why was she calling? After the week they were having, she was the last person he would have expected to be calling. Then a glorious thought occurred to him. Perhaps, this was also a side effect of the spell Sarah had cast that afternoon? It stood to reason that, like his room and the bracelet, the spell had worked its magic on his relationship with Angie as well. Was her mother finally over the whole accident thing? The fact that she was even calling was a good sign that she had relented about him. Maybe, now that they found a way to thwart Jareth’s schemes, things between him and Angie would be back to the way they were!  
His heart skipped a beat.  
“Coming!” he hollered back downstairs to his mother as he sprinted towards the stairway. He rushed down the stairs so fast that he stumbled and skidded down the last three steps, nearly wiping out at the bottom. When he regained his balance he scurried into the kitchen where he found his mother holding the receiver in her hand, a broad smile stretched across her face.  
“Here he is,” she said with just a hint of teasing in her voice as she handed the phone to her son and left the room.  
Toby took a deep breath and pushed his hair back off his forehead. Once he was steadied, he brought the phone up to his ear.  
“Hey,” he said into the receiver a little breathlessly. “What’s up?”  
“Not too much,” she paused, “You weren’t in school today so I thought I’d give you a call and see what was going on with you. I was worried that you might be sick or something.”  
A twinge of excitement. She was concerned about him! This was a very good sign indeed.  
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t feeling so hot this morning,” he told her, building on her assumption. “It was hellacious. I had vile things coming out of me.”  
“Lovely,” she said distastefully.  
Toby grinned, deciding to take it up another notch. “Oh it was. You should see the mess I made out of the bathroom.”  
“Toby, ewww!” He could hear the disgust in her voice. She really didn’t like talking about bodily functions and he knew it.   
“But I’m feeling a lot better now,” he said, sparing her anymore gross imagery. A sly smile played on his lips and mischievous glint formed in his eye. “In fact,” he turned the charm on, “I think I’m feeling good enough for visitors. Care to stop by?” He let the invitation hang in the air.  
But she wasn’t biting. In fact, what she said next were the four words in the English language that no man ever wanted to hear strung together.  
“Toby,” there was a hitch in her voice, “We need to talk.”  
A thunderclap couldn’t have announced the impending doom better. ‘We need to talk’ roughly translated into ‘you are completely screwed’.   
“Okay,” he licked his lips fretfully and swallowed, “What do you want to talk about?”  
“It’s just – I –” she sputtered nervously. Now it was her turn for an awkward pause. He could hear her on the other end taking a deep breath then releasing it in a tense sigh.  
“Toby, I think we ought to take a break from dating.”  
And there it was. Of the house of cards that he had created, the final card had fallen.  
Toby felt a dead spot in his chest where his heart used to reside. But how could that be? He could still feel it, beating painfully slow, yet now it was vacated, leaving behind an empty cavity that once held joy and love. But it soon began to fill up again. A bitter tide of anger and rejection began to flow in, masking any grief he might have been feeling.  
“You’re breaking up with me,” his voice was hollow.  
“No, now that’s not what I said –” she tried to correct him.  
“Yeah but that’s what you meant,” he interrupted her before she could finish her clarification.   
“Toby, I’m so sorry. It wasn’t anything that you’ve done –”  
“I see you’ve been talking to Candace and Jen again,” he blamed darkly, “They’ve been filling your head all week about the accident being my fault and you bought into their bullshit! God, I can’t believe you let them brainwash you like that!”   
“Really? You want to bring that up?” she responded hotly.   
“Sure, why not?” he snapped, not backing down. “I mean, if everyone’s going to blame me for it then why the hell not?”  
“Oh get over yourself!” she retorted. “I am so sick of your ‘poor little Toby, everyone’s ganging up on me’ crap. Maybe if you quit feeling sorry for yourself, you might take notice of the effect it’s had on everyone else.”   
“Oh, trust me, I’ve seem more than enough of its effect,” he promised her. “More than you anyhow.”  
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Just that you’ve been so busy siding with everyone else this week that you never even bothered getting my side of things!” She tried to object but he cut her off. “Admit it: you think I’m responsible for the accident, don’t you?”  
She huffed at his accusation but made no attempt to contradict it.  
“You know, whatever. I know it was dark and you guys had been dancing and were tired and you probably just didn’t see that guy coming – ”  
“IT WASN’T MY FAULT!” he shouted into the phone. “That guy ran a red light and hit me! There was no way I could have avoided him –”  
“It doesn’t matter Toby, MAGGIE’S STILL DEAD!”   
Her outburst quieted any other explanation he might have given. It was the cruelest hit he took yet, and it was delivered by his so-called girlfriend. A cold silence spun out between them.   
Realizing she might have been overly harsh, Angie attempted to un-ring the bell.  
“I shouldn’t have said that,” she murmured regrettably. She continued in a calmer tone.  
“Look, I know it wasn’t your fault and I don’t blame you but that doesn’t change what happened,” she tried to rationalize to him gently. “I’m sorry, but that’s how I feel.”  
Her attempt to justify herself fell short and only served to infuriate him. Trying to make her feel as bad as himself, he struck out at her with a low blow of his own.  
“Of course you don’t blame me for it,” he hissed at her. “Because if you did then you’d have to own up to your part in the whole thing. After all, it was you that insisted I take Maggie.”  
It was a cheap shot but at this point he didn’t care. He just wanted to hurt her as badly as she hurt him.   
Angie’s response was hushed and absolute:  
“You son of a bitch.”  
He could hear the hurt in her voice and felt a small stab of guilt but it was too late; she hung up the phone before he had a chance to redeem himself.  
Angry with himself as much as he was with her, Toby brought the receiver crashing down in its cradle. He felt overcome with rage and sorrow; both emotions waging war over his psyche, pulling him painfully in two directions. In the end, rage won out because it was far easier to be angry and resentful than deal with the grief. And he knew just the thing to take his anger out on.   
Toby stormed out of the kitchen, past his alarmed mother and down the little side hall into the garage. It was cold and getting dark but there was still enough natural light outside that he could easily see his way to the workbench. He kicked an empty gas can out of his way as he went, the plastic container ricocheting off the wall from the force. He bore down on the workbench, eyes searching for the offending object of his current discourse. And there it was; the symbol of his bankrupt love. The hanging bookshelf he made Angie for Christmas.   
Unbridled fury coursed through him as he rummaged around for a hammer to smash the wooden shelf with. His search was in vain though and he cursed his dad for its lack. Who has a workbench without a frikken hammer to put in it? Undaunted, he fumbled through an accommodating toolbox looking for something he could use to desecrate the shelf with.  
Grabbing the first thing that had a handle to it, he pulled out a heavy duty adjustable wrench. Not the most practical tool for the job but it would accomplish the task. He weighed it in his hand and liked its heft. Pushing the toolbox to the side, he brought the homemade book shelf before him, prepared to demolish it.   
He felt loathing and disdain when he remembered how he labored on it that Saturday afternoon only a few weeks before. What a waste of time and that was! He should have just lit his money on fire. But it wasn’t the money that he spent that irked him so much now, it was how he imagined, almost giddily, what her reaction would have been when he gave it to her. She would have cherished it, he knew she would have. Not because it was of particular value or beauty, but because it was from him, made with his own two hands with love. But now, all that was gone. Their relationship was over, with a few cruel words in a heated argument.   
The anger he felt began to ebb from him as a current of heartbreak and regret washed over him. The pain was unbearable. He leaned against the workbench suddenly unable to support himself on his own. His lungs strained as he gasped in a ragged breath, tears trickling down his face. All thoughts of destruction and retaliation left him as he remembered their first date, how they cuddled in the movie theater and the smell of her shampoo. How she kissed him when the date was over. He could still feel the memory of her lips on his, warm and soft, with a faint taste of strawberry lip gloss. Wish or not, what they had felt very real to him. She was his first real love.  
And now she was gone.   
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
That Friday night was one of the most miserable of Toby’s existence.   
After his break down in the garage, he returned to the house, a weary and defeated young man. His mother, guessing the cause of his current plight, tried to comfort him with the standard rhetoric that, even though it felt like the end of the world, nobody ever died of a broken heart. That no matter how much it hurt right now, the pain would pass and he’d get through it. She even tried to rally his spirits, telling him that all teen romances have their ups and downs and come tomorrow the whole thing would blow over and they would be back together again. But he wasn’t listening. All he could focus on was he had lost the girl of his dreams and the crushing feeling it left in his heart.  
At least one good thing came from his present situation with Angie. With Toby in his existing state of despair, his parents (his father was made aware of his recent breakup) mercifully refrained from their bitter arguing for the night. Dinner was relatively civil between his parents, each making polite small talk with one another for the sake of their son. Not that it mattered to Toby. He was too engrossed in his own misery to give a rip about what his parents said. He merely sat at the table quietly, pushing his food around on his plate until he announced that he was tired and was going to bed.   
For the first time in several days, Toby spent the night in his own bedroom. Now that the binding spell was in place, he felt safe in his room again. But that wasn’t the only reason. Deep down inside, a secret part of him hoped that Jareth would appear and put him out of his misery. It was crazy; he knew it, especially after everything he and Sarah went through to ensure that exact thing wouldn’t happen, but right at the moment, he didn’t care. All that he could think about was their break up and how miserable he felt. His efforts went unrewarded though. Jareth never did make an appearance so he was left in his piteous solitude.   
As he lay in his bed, he tried to distract himself by making plans about all the things he wanted to do the next day before going over to Sarah’s for the night. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with his loved ones. His mom was going to the animal shelter that morning to assist with adoption day so he’d go along and help her with that. Then he figured he’d stop by over at Shane’s house and hang out for awhile, then head home to watch the Georgia vs. Arkansas game with his dad. He knew it wasn’t most stimulating way to spend the day but he was content in the fact that he would be spending it with his family and friend and that was what mattered most. He thought about everything he wanted to do with them and say to them.   
But mostly he thought about Angie.  
Eventually, sometime during the night, he dozed off. Instead of the nightmares he had been having all week, he dreamt of the time when he was five and the family had gone to the beach.   
In his dream, he could feel the warm sun shining down on him and the wet sand squishing between his toes. Up on the dry sand, his mom and dad were lying under a large umbrella relaxing while he and Sarah splashed around in the surf. They were smiling and laughing as liquid gems sprayed all about them and cool salt water lapped at their feet. It was a beautiful dream. In it, he felt perfectly happy and peaceful. Sadly though, dreams can’t last forever and when Toby opened his eyes again, it was daylight and reality was waiting for him.   
He awoke without the normal drowsiness that accompanies waking up in the morning. When he opened his eyes, he was alert, brain functioning, ready to get on with the day. His mind was set to the tasks he had laid out for himself the night before. He was a man on a mission and he was going to see them through.  
Though his breakup with Angie was still very fresh, he was determined not to let it affect his day. He had gone through his mourning the night before and was resolute to get past it. Moping over Angie wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Putting her out of his mind, he got up, eager to get his day underway.   
The morning went much as he envisioned it the night before. After breakfast, he and his mother went down the shelter to help out with the adoptions. The morning was hectic and between the yapping dogs and squealing children, he was easily distracted from the oncoming deadline he faced that night. He was grateful for the distraction. Keeping busy was the only thing that prevented him from collapsing into a quivering ball of nerves. For the first time in a long time he felt normal, which was a blessed relief from all that had happened to him in the last week. By the time adoption day was over at one o’clock, the occupants of the shelter was down by half and they collected a little over seven-hundred dollars in donations. Both he and his mother left tired and pleased.   
On their way home, he had his mom stop him off over at Shane’s house so he could visit with his friend. Shane was a little surprised at his impromptu stop but Mrs. McCalaster seemed tickled pink over his arrival, saying it had been much too long since his last visit and plied him with milk and homemade goodies. Toby happily accepted her offerings, aware that her apple streusel pie was the best in town. After he and Shane ate two slices each, they retired to his room to assist their digestion by playing a little Xbox. After the third defeat in a row that Shane handed him, the brown haired boy put the game on pause.  
“Man, you stink at this,” he ribbed his friend. “I can get my little sister’s princess dress up game for you. That seems to be more your speed.”  
Toby snorted at him.   
“You’re a douche. I guess my head’s just not up to it today.”  
Shane grinned boorishly at him. “And just what is your head up today besides, obviously, your ass?”  
Toby slugged him on the shoulder which caused him to tilt onto his side. Rubbing where he was hit, but grin still in place, he pressed on.  
“Seriously, what’s up with you today? You’ve been acting like a zombie ever since you got here.”  
Toby stared down at the controller in his hands, unsure of what his answer would be. If only he could tell Shane what was wrong with him! If only he could tell his friend that today might very well be his last day on earth and on that night he might have to face the Goblin King and possibly fight for his life! He wondered how his childhood friend might react to his revelation: concern, fear, disbelief? He would probably think he was out of his mind and, in true friend fashion, torment him about it for weeks, provided Jareth would let him live after he told him. No, it was best to keep such things to himself. Better to tell him something less risky.  
“I got a letter from MSU yesterday. They took back the scholarship,” he groaned forlornly.   
Shane’s face pinched in disappointment. “Aw shit, I’m sorry to hear that man. Did they tell you why?”  
Toby shrugged. “They didn’t have to, I have a pretty good guess why.” A short break, “Me and Angie broke up last night too.”  
He looked over at his friend who was sitting on the bed next to him. Shane gave him an oddly blank look then slowly turned his head to stare at his own controller that he was fiddling with. Toby waited for what he would say next.  
“Been there.”  
That was it. No: ‘Serves you right!’, or ‘How does it feel?’ just those two words. Toby would have felt better if he had jeered him, at least he would have deserved it. He had, after all, broken the two of them up for his own selfish motive, though unbeknownst to Shane. But his friend had no further comment other than the one he gave.  
Toby realized any rectifying that needed done would have to be done by him.  
“Shane –”  
He was cut off by a raised hand.  
“Toby, you don’t have to –” he tried to absolve him.  
“No, I do,” he insisted, refusing to waver. “I gotta say it.” He took a second to collect himself. “Shane, I shouldn’t have gone after Angie after you guys broke up. I was totally out of line. That was a real shitty thing for me to do and I’m sorry for it. I know that doesn’t make anything better but just so you know, I’d change it if I could do it all over again.”  
It was like a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders, making Toby’s spirit feel lighter. The two boys looked at one another with open affection. After all the trials their friendship had been through in the last few weeks, Toby finally felt he restored the close bond they had once shared.  
Shane gave his friend a tepid smile. “Thanks. I can kinda see why you did though,” he granted. “She’s something special.”  
Toby could see the remnants of his love for the girl. A wan smile touched his lips.  
“Yeah, she is.” He felt a sharp stab of pining. “Maybe now that we’re through, you guys might make another go at it.”  
Shane stared at him in bafflement, trying to gage whether there was some sort of ruse behind his suggestion. When he saw that there was no concealed hoax, he merely shook his head and let out a rueful chuckle.  
“Naw, I think that boat has already sailed,” he ceded, then with much of his joking self back added almost genially, “Besides what would she want with loser like me after she dated the quarterback of the football team?”  
Toby smirked at his words. “She dumped me too.”  
A wolfish smile spread across Shane’s face. “Yeah, which will make you a bigger loser when I kick your ass at Halo again.”  
The two sneered at each other after the bold challenge Shane issued. Then they un-paused the game and returned to playing with gusto.  
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
After a few hours, and another piece of pie, Shane drove Toby to his house just in time for the kickoff of the Georgia vs. Arkansas. His dad was perched in his chair, a bag or pork rinds in his lap, which never would have even made its way into the house if his mother had any interjection about it. But ever since his parents started fighting again, his father began indulging in treats that his mother had formerly declared were bad for his blood pressure. His mom, for her part, was ignoring the unhealthy affront. She was busy sorting through a box of old photographs at the dining room table. His dad looked up as the he entered the house.  
“Hey son, you made it back just in time, the game’s about to start.”  
Toby sat down on the couch and spent the next few hours watching the game with his dad. Despite the aloofness between his parents, it was easy for him to imagine that it was just another Saturday afternoon. At halftime, his father declared he was ordering a pizza (the ‘Gut Buster’ special which Toby knew his mother reviled) and left the house to fetch it. Toby wandered over to where his mom was sitting, leaned down and gave her a hug and a kiss.  
His mother stared up at him pleasantly surprised.  
“What was that for?”  
He gave her a disguised smile. “Cause I love you,” he told her. He scanned though the pictures she had spread out on the table. “Whatcha doing?”  
She sighed as she gazed across all the captured memories strewn before her. “Oh, I’m just going through this box of photos here. I’ve been meaning to organize them for years but just never gotten around to it.”  
He scanned the pictures and spotted one of the family at Niagara Falls. He was seven back then and they were all standing on the observation deck, smiling happily. His dad had a moustache at the time.  
“Check out the lip tickler on dad!” he joked, pointing at the photo.  
His mom let out a small giggle. “I forgot he had that!” She picked up the picture. “He thought he looked so dashing with it,” another titter, “I never told your father this but I thought he looked like a walrus!”  
They both laughed at her statement. Toby thought his dad looked more like a seventies porn star with his moustache but wisely kept his opinion to himself.  
She let out a sigh. “Those were good times.”   
He thought he could hear a little bit of yearning in her voice. He gave her a little prod.  
“They still can be mom. You and dad could still work things out.”  
His remark seemed to startle her. The look she gave him was one of bewildered discomfort before she made an excuse about having to take the towels out of the dryer.  
Toby grimaced at his mistake. He hadn’t meant to put his mom on the spot like that and reproached himself for it. He wanted everything to be perfect today and there he had to go open his big mouth and run his mother out of the room. Luckily, when she returned to the dining room, she pretended as if the whole thing hadn’t happened. Toby took the hint and said nothing more about it.   
When his dad returned with the pizza, the two Williams men sat in the living room eating it while they finished watching the game. It was a pretty much a shut out with the Bulldogs beating the Razorbacks thirty to three. His dad was tickled by the final score since he met his points spread for the game and Carter over at work now owed him ten bucks. Toby was happy for his dad but wasn’t too excited about the game. For him, the results of the game didn’t matter so much as whom he was spending the time with.   
Now that the game was over, it was a little after seven and Toby knew it was time for him to leave. He was anxious but also a little sad. Uncertain of what the outcome of the night might be, there were many things he wanted to tell his parents. Like what they mean to him and how happy he is that they’re his parents and if anything happened to him, he wanted them to know how much he loved them. But he realized that could possibly set off alarms for them. So instead, he opted for giving each of them a hug and a kiss and told them he loved him as he left the house.   
The night was cold and brisk outside as he walked towards his mother’s car. All his senses were more alert and alive than he ever felt them. He snatched up the baseball bat he had hidden outside earlier that day and tossed it into the backseat of the car. His mind went over the keynotes of the day. He felt certain he used his hours wisely, spending time with and making those he loved happy. Now it was time to go to Sarah’s and wait what may come.  
He got into the car and hit the ignition switch, mind still busy with last minute questions playing out. Was everything settled? Did he leave anything undone? Was there someone he left out? While his brain fervently tried to convince him there wasn’t, his heart betrayed him. There was one last item of business he needed to tend to and he knew if he didn’t do it, he would never have any peace.   
Leaving the car to idle, he got out of the vehicle and went to the garage.  
.  
.  
PART 4  
.  
Toby arrived at 106 Railroad Street at seven-twenty. He got out of the car and walked up to the front porch carrying an offering he had inside a grey plastic bag. He could see light spilling out of the living room window as he approached and speculated who might be there. Not that it would deter him from what he came there to do, but he hoped there wouldn’t be any discord during his stopover.  
He knocked sharply on the front door four times then waited for an answer. He could hear the television playing inside and absentmindedly wondered what they were watching. Before he could decipher the muffled show, the door opened leaving a sliver of light escape outside.  
Angie’s mother was on the other side of the door and when she saw who it was waiting for her to answer, a look of astonishment lit her face. It dulled quickly to one of nuisance but regardless she opened the door further.  
“Hello Toby,” she greeted him curtly.  
Undaunted, he returned her greeting.  
“Hi Mrs. Bernard, is Angie home?”  
Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips slightly.  
“Yes, she’s home.”  
He could tell that he was going to have to work for it.  
“Can I see her please?”  
“She doesn’t want to see you.”  
“Well can you at least ask her if she’ll see me?”  
Toby was getting impatient. He tried not to sound rude but he couldn’t help the edge in his tone. He had bigger fish to fry that evening than sweet talking Angie’s mother.  
Apparently, Mrs. Bernard caught the snippiness in his voice. She gave him a rather disapproving stare and began to close the door.  
Toby caught the door before she could shut it in his face. Her expression changed to disbelief.  
“Let go of the door Toby,” she commanded sternly, “I think it’s best if you leave!”  
“Please, you gotta let me see Angie!” he persisted. He could tell she was not in the mood to acquiesce so he tried appealing to her. “Please, just let me talk to her for a few minutes and you’ll never have to see my face again.”  
“I don’t have to let you do anything!” she snapped at him. “And if you don’t let go of this door right now I’m going to –”  
“Mom, don’t, it’s okay”  
Her daughter’s request stopped the older woman mid-sentence. She turned and as she did, Toby caught sight of Angie, standing behind her mother.  
“Don’t worry about this honey, I’ll take care of it,” she assured her, “Just go up to your room and I’ll –”  
“No mom, it’s okay,” she insisted. “I can handle this. It’ll be fine.”  
She looked put off but ceded to her daughter. Not to be cowed, she cast a warning and a disparaging look at Toby.  
“Alright, you can speak with her, but I’ll be right in the kitchen!”  
With that, she made her exit.  
Toby came in from the cold and closed the door behind him. Standing on the doormat, he swiped his sneakers several times to remove the snow from them. When he was satisfied, he turned his attention to Angie.  
She stood there facing him with her arms crossed over her chest and a guarded look on her face. Confronted with her cool demeanor, he was at a loss for words.  
When the reason for his visit wasn’t immediately forthcoming, she broke the silence.  
“Well? Did you want something or are you just going to stare at me?”  
Her words brought him out of the temporary daze he was in. They were cutting and revealed her displeasure.  
‘Quit gawking at her and say something!’ he scolded himself. Clearing his throat, he proceeded.  
“Uh, no, I wanted to tell you something,” not quite as eloquent as he would have preferred. “Um, can we go someplace where we can talk in private?”  
Her eyes hardened. “No, I don’t think so.”  
Could nothing be easy about this? He closed his eyes, keeping his desperation in check.  
“Just for a few minutes, I promise, and then I won’t ever bother you again,” he pleaded. “Please Angie.”  
Maybe it was the ‘please’ that did it. Whatever it was, her face softened.  
“Fine,” she relented, “We’ll talk in my room. Mom!” She aimed her shout towards the kitchen, “We’re going upstairs!”  
“You have five minutes!” was the return. “After that, I’m coming up to fetch you!”  
Toby had no doubt that she would hold true to her words but at least he would be able to speak to Angie in privacy. Silently, he followed her up the stairs.  
When they reached the top of the steps, she led him off to the right towards her room. She flipped the light switch once they entered and rounded on him.  
“Okay, we’re alone. What is you wanted to say to me?”  
On his ride over to her house, he imagined he would be nervous about this moment but he wasn’t. He felt oddly at peace right then, despite her frostiness. He took a deep gulp of air before he proceeded.   
“Just that I shouldn’t have said what I did last night and that I’m sorry,” he apologized. “That was wrong of me to say and I didn’t mean it.”  
She seemed skeptical about his pronouncement, suspicious of an ulterior motive.   
Her antagonism surfaced from beneath her usual cordial nature. “Well that’s nice of you to admit but we’re still not getting back together,” she vowed. “If that’s what you thought, then you’re wasting your time.”  
Her harsh words had no affect on him. He let them fall off him like rain on a roof.  
“That’s not why I stopped over,” he continued on. “I wanted to apologize to you and give you this.”   
He held out the bag for her acceptance. She looked at it a tentatively.   
“What is it?”  
“It’s your Christmas present,” he told her. She stared at it, reluctant to accept it. “Please take it. I want you to have it.” Hesitantly, she reached out and took the bag but didn’t open it.  
“This doesn’t change anything.”  
Toby nodded his head. “I know it doesn’t.”  
It took ever ounce of his strength to say what he did next.  
“I know I can’t fix what happened and I’ve come to terms with it. You were right, everything was my fault.”  
Angie knew he wasn’t just talking about their split.  
“I never deserved you.”   
His assertion shocked her. This certainly wasn’t the conversation she was expecting when he showed up at her door!   
“I realize this now,” he ensued unabashedly. “You were too sweet, too good for me, and I couldn’t help it, but I didn’t deserve you. I didn’t want to admit it before but I know that now. I shouldn’t have stolen you like I did.”  
Now she really was confused.  
“How did you steal me?”  
He shook his head ruefully.   
“It doesn’t matter,” his voice was soft. “I just want you to know that I consider myself lucky that I got to spend what time I had with you. I will never forget how happy I was with you.”   
He looked at her face, trying to etch every detail of it into his memory. Even in its current state of bewilderment, she was still the loveliest creature he had ever set his eyes upon.   
Sensing his time was almost up, he turned to exit her room. As he reached the doorway to her bedroom, he looked back at her once more.  
“I love you Angie,” he told her sincerely. “I loved you from the first moment I saw you. Don’t ever forget that.”  
With that, he was gone from her room and her life.  
She stared after him in stunned amazement, trying to fathom everything he had just said to her. His behavior was bizarre to say the least but there was also a despairing earnestness to his words. It left her with conflicting emotions about the whole thing.  
Remembering she still had the bag he had given her in her hand, she opened it to peer at its contents. Seeing what it was, she reached in and withdrew the little wooden shelf. It was clumsily put together but its usefulness was still there. As she held it in her hands, her right palm brushed across an unusual coarseness on its back side. Curious, she flipped it over to investigate. What she saw left her feeling numb.  
On the back of the little wooden bookshelf, crudely carved into the grain of the wood with a Philips head screwdriver, were three words:   
Toby loves Angie.   
Toby swiftly descended the stairs and was out of the house before Angie’s mom could bestow any departing words to him. The cold air struck his face and nearly took his breath away but he didn’t let it detain him for an instance. He needed to be away from there quickly before his resolve escaped him and he was undone by his melancholy. He hurried to the car that awaited him, anxious to be way from the place. Once inside, he quickly turned the ignition and brought the vehicle back to life.   
He put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway onto the main road. He shifted it into drive but before he took his foot off the brake, he looked one last time at the brick house on Railroad Street. He gazed up at the second story to the window which he knew was Angie’s room, a cauldron of emotions roiling up inside him, threatening to overwhelm him, but then they receded and were replaced with sad stillness one only reaches after a particularly arduous bereavement. He stared at the light in her window for a minute, as a collage of secret moments and stolen kisses played though his mind. As he relived the scenes, a lone tear slipped from between his eyelashes and slid down his cheek.  
“Goodbye Angie.”  
Then he took his foot off the brake pedal and drove off into the night


	16. Chapter 16

PART 1

 

*The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it.  
*Thucydides  
.  
Toby didn’t feel brave though.   
In fact, the only feeling Toby really had was one of unrelenting guilt as he hurtled down the road towards Sarah’s.   
We all have a book of Revelations in our life. Most of us don’t realize this until something harrowing occurs to us. Then, we forced to draw it out of our subconscious, like a tangled thread, and face our past indiscretions. Toby read his that fateful night during the trip to his sister’s apartment.   
It was a harsh realism.  
He looked back on all the past circumstances that had led him to this point. But for his own self-serving ambitions, he would not be in the situation he was in now. The betrayal and sacrifice of those in the way of his misguided desire to attain what he wanted, weighed heavily upon him. Before, he tried to downplay his own involvement in the atrocities that Jareth had committed. He had persuaded himself that the crimes were Jareth’s alone, and that he had no accountability in the matter. Tonight, he gave himself none of those luxuries. With a critical eye, he examined the value of his own life up to that moment and found it lacking.   
He opened his soul, all the sins of his past laid bare before him, concealing and minimizing nothing. He thought back on all those that he hurt, those he had stolen from and those he manipulated through his wishes. He remembered those whose lives he destroyed though his selfishness and those who paid the ultimate price as collateral damage of his wishes. Each of them was cut down long before their time, each life valuable and irreplaceable to those who loved them. The echoes of their deaths called out to him from the depths of his conscience, in a haunting whisper: why? Why did they have to die so he could have his dreams? Why was he favored while they were deemed expendable? Why were his desires more important than their right to exist?   
Toby had no answers to the questions that reverberated through his mind. The only way he could still the insistent voices in his head was with his resolution to set these terrible injustices right. True, the follies where of his making, but now he had been enlightened and he swore that he would never let Jareth use him again. He was going to do anything within his power to ensure he would never be able to harm another innocent. With any luck, the binding spell Sarah cast yesterday afternoon would do the trick. Signs seemed promising that it did but, just in case, he brought along a little insurance in the back seat.   
He pulled up to the curb in front of Sarah’s apartment about a quarter past eight. Toby reached into the back seat and brought his Louisville Slugger out of the car with him as he exited. As he manually locked the doors, he looked up to the second story loft apartment and could see the silhouette of his sister peering out the large window at him. He raised his hand in acknowledgement but she didn’t return the gesture and stalked away from the window. He could tell she was miffed and was made aware of the reason why when he entered her apartment.  
“Where the hell have you been?” Sarah demanded as she met him at the door. “You said you were going to be here between seven and eight! Do you know what time it is? Eight-fifteen! You had me worried sick! I was five minutes away from going out looking for you!”  
Toby never thought his tardiness would have caused her so much distress.   
“Sorry sis, I didn’t mean to get your panties in a bunch. It’s just I had some things I needed to take care of first.”  
She flung her arms widely, disgruntled. “Oh, and you never heard of picking up a phone and calling?” she fumed. “Would it have killed you to give me a call and let me know you were going to be late? The thought never crossed your mind, did it? And just what was so important that you couldn’t give me the heads up so I wouldn’t worry myself half to death!”  
He gave her a disgraced look. “I had to stop at Angie’s house.”  
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise at his answer.   
“We broke up last night but I had to see her just one last time,” he explained. “I should have called to let you know that I was going to be late but it was a spur of the moment kind of thing.”   
Calmed by his answer, Sarah gave him an accepting nod. “Sorry to hear that Tobes,” she sympathized. “You okay?”  
He nodded glumly. “Yeah, I’m alright. It was a long time in the making so it’s not like I didn’t see it coming.”  
She reached over and gave him a gentle pat on his shoulder. “Don’t let it bum you out,” she advised. Trying to lift his spirits, she added “Who knows, maybe you guys can work things out.”  
“Yeah, maybe,” he agreed half heartedly.  
Sarah could tell he wasn’t buying into her optimism so she decided to change the subject.   
“I see you brought backup,” she smiled, indicating the bat.  
Toby brought the bat up and rested it on his right shoulder. “Doesn’t hurt to come prepared.”  
Her smile broadened for an instant then she became serious again. “How is everything?” He knew by ‘everything’ she was referring to the binding spell.  
“I think the spell’s working.”  
Her face lit up with eagerness.  
“How can you tell?”  
“It’s hard to explain, but things seem more….hopeful,” he paused a moment as he tried to give reason to his words. “When I got home yesterday it felt a lot more…..homier, you know what I mean? Like my bedroom, it wasn’t as gloomy and scary as it had been since he was there last. It was like my old room again. And the bracelet was different too. It used to be really pretty but when I checked it again after I got home, it looked like it was just a piece of dingy old costume jewelry.”  
Sarah looked relieved by his explanation. “This is good Tobes, this is really, really good,” she granted. “But we’ll find out just how well it works tonight.”  
He nodded his head in agreement as he took off his varsity jacket. It was then that he noticed an oddly pungent but familiar aroma in her apartment. Wrinkling his nose, he commented on it.  
“What is that awful smell?”  
She smiled and gestured around the apartment. He spied several bowls with smoke rising from them on her end stands and coffee table.  
“You like it?” she joked, “It’s a lovely little potpourri I picked up at a spiritualist store. It’s a combo of sage and cedar. They say it wards off negative energies and protects you from black magic. I figure if it’s good enough for Kaitlin’s Domina to use, it’s good enough for us.”  
Toby fanned his hand in front of his face. “Yeah, well the stink alone should chase them off,” he gazed around her living room and saw numerous bundles of heather in different stages of vitality. He smirked. “What’s with all the flowers? Trying to cover up your b.o.?”  
She rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t be such a dork, you know what it’s for. It’s just a little….precaution.”  
“It looks like you raided a prom or something.”  
“Well, I did buy out two flower shops,” she extended her right hand towards him, rubbing her index and middle fingers with her thumb, “Which I plan to be compensated for, thank you very much.”  
He snorted. “Yeah right, I’ll catch you when I hit the lotto.” He flung his jacket on the arm of her couch, dropped his over night bag beside it and he plopped down at its center. “So now what do we do?”  
She seated herself next to him exhaling heavily. “Now we wait.”   
He braided his hands in front of him, the merriment of their previous exchange wearing off.   
“What do you think is gonna happen?” he asked solemnly.  
“Hard to tell,” she pondered. A crinkle of worry creased her forehead, “Hopefully nothing. With any luck, the spell will keep him away from you, maybe even break his claim. But whatever happens,” she pointed her finger at him, “you aren’t going to be out of my sight tonight, not even for a second. You got that?”  
He was a little intimidated by the intensity in which she spoke and bobbed his head in agreement, not daring to disagree with her. He was more than willing to let her call the shots tonight. In fact, he felt relief in letting her be in charge. Despite his approach of adulthood and assurance in his own masculinity, he was still comforted by his big sister’s protectiveness of him. He felt safe with her in command.   
After all, she took on the Goblin King on his behalf once before and won, right?   
.  
.  
PART 2  
.  
So the Williams siblings waited as hour after hour slipped by. At first, the time passed by uneventfully, as eight o’clock glided into nine and then into ten. Sarah had ordered some Chinese food for them that arrived a little bit after ten. Though he claimed not to be hungry when she was ordering, Toby was ravenous when the food got there. He wasn’t particularly familiar with the cuisine (there wasn’t a Chinese restaurant within twenty miles of his house and the only exposure he had of their fare was egg rolls and teriyaki chicken on a stick that he had at the Fireman’s Carnival the year before) and though he was reluctant, at his sister’s insistence, he sampled a little of everything. To his surprise, the food was good, really good. He even liked the egg drop soup, which looked suspiciously like skinny white worms floating around in egg yolks. While he went at the food like he hadn’t eaten in a week, Sarah ate a bit more conservatively.  
“You gonna finish that?” he asked her, as he pointed to the last dumpling with his chop sticks. Sarah shook her head as she poked around in the fried rice container. Toby jabbed one of his sticks into the dumpling’s meaty center and popped the whole thing into his mouth.   
“How can you eat like that?” she put her box down on the coffee table, distracted. He understood the implication behind her question.  
He shrugged, more calmly than he felt.   
“I don’t know, maybe I’m a stress eater?” his response was muffled by a mouthful of food.   
The statement was more truthful than he let on. He was stressed and worried but didn’t want to show it in front of Sarah. She had enough on her mind without having to keep him calm. So outwardly, he maintained a semblance of coolness, though bubbling underneath he could feel his anxiety building. He stood up trying to shake his foreboding.   
“Whew, I’m thirsty,” he said once his mouth was empty, “What do you got to drink in this place?”  
Sarah rose from her spot on the couch. “I got some green tea in the fridge.”  
“Don’t bother,” he waved her to sit back down, “I can get it.”  
“No,” her voice was like iron, “We’ll both go. You’re not to be out of my sight, remember?”  
Even though he thought she was being just a tad overcautious; he wasn’t about to argue with her. Sighing, he followed her into the kitchen to get his drink.  
And that was the norm for the rest of the night. Wherever Toby went, Sarah tagged along behind him. Even when he had to use the bathroom, she insisted on accompanying him. When he protested that she was going too far and that he didn’t need his sister to hold his hand while he went tinkle, she told him to quit being such an idiot, that she was only going to stand outside the door. The limited privacy did little in the way of comforting him. Knowing that his sister was just a few feet away listening caused his bladder to lock down like Fort Knox and he was barely able to squeeze out ten drops. To agitate the matter even more, she called into him after a few minutes asking if everything was okay, to which he barked back at her that she wasn’t helping.  
As the night wore on, the more nervous the pair got. Tension began to build as time whiled away. They tried their best to divert their attention from the oncoming deadline that preyed on their collective mind. They attempted to play game of gin rummy but with their nerves being so strung out they swiftly broke down to squabbling when Sarah chastised him for holding. He snipped back that there wasn’t any rules in the game against it, to which she insisted that there were. The whole thing led to a big argument that ended with Toby throwing his cards down on the table declaring he quit.  
After their failed card game, Sarah turned on the television and suggested that they watch a movie instead. That was fine by him so the two of them sat on the couch, not saying anything to the other, stewing. As he sat there, arms folded over his chest stubbornly, he understood that it was the tension of the situation, not his sister that was making him so irritable. He knew it was causing her foul mood as well as he looked next to him where she sat in the same position, hooded eyes trained on the TV. Trying to relieve some of the angst between them, he made an offhanded comment on how lame he thought the movie was. Sarah grouchily agreed but didn’t bother changing channels. And so, a shaky truce was formed.  
As time passed, Toby found himself more and more preoccupied with watching the clock than trying to follow the plot of the movie. Time seemed to speed by and before he knew it, it was after one. One thirty-eight to be exact and symptoms of his anxiety were starting to manifest. His right knee was bouncing uncontrollably as he tried to watch the movie, his eyes repeatedly flicking from the television screen to the clock on the wall. In less than an hour they would know if the binding spell worked. Fear seeped into him as doubt began to cloud his mind. What if the spell didn’t work and it came down to him and Sarah against the Goblin King? What then? It was agonizing to him, the fear and apprehension. He couldn’t stand the uncertainty but even more he couldn’t stand the waiting. Though the night was passing quickly, the suspense was killing him. He imagined this was what it was like to be a prisoner on death row, watching the clock tick down to his execution.   
He wasn’t aware that Sarah was speaking to him until she poked him on the arm.   
“What?” he asked testily.  
“I said: staring at the clock isn’t going to help anything,” she repeated.  
He shakily rubbed his hand across his face.   
“I can’t help it,” he leaned forward on the couch resting his forearms to his knees. “This damned waiting is driving me crazy.”  
Sarah nodded but didn’t say anything.  
“You know it’s funny,” he continued on, “All week I’ve been dreading this night. I was so worried about us finding some way to beat him and now that we got something, I’m going insane wondering whether it’ll work or not.”  
“You said that things were better at home.”  
“Yeah, I know, and it seemed like a good sign and all but now I don’t know.” He started wringing his hands. “I can’t stand all this waiting! One way or another I just want to get it over with.”  
He became very still as he looked over at his sister, his eyes laden with fright.  
“What if it doesn’t work?”  
Sarah straightened from her position on the couch and turned towards him, bringing her left knee up onto the cushions so she could face him. She reached over and grasped his hands with hers.  
“It’ll work Toby,” she said as her eyes bore intensely into his, “You have to have faith that it’ll work.” She gave his hands a tight squeeze to emphasize her point.   
“You know, faith is a very powerful thing,” she went on, “It can save little brothers and tear down castles. It can even defeat evil kings.” A glimmer danced in her eye and then her voice became almost reverent. “And you know something? I think that’s what magic’s really all about. I think that it’s the belief in the magic that gives it power.”  
Toby mulled over her words for a second or two. He knew that she was trying to reassure him but it hardly seemed plausible that they might overcome the Goblin King merely on faith! Especially after everything he had gone through. He had seen Jareth’s powers first hand, been on the receiving end of them even, and thought Sarah’s perception of the situation was too simplistic.  
“But what if believing isn’t enough?”  
She gave him a wry little smile and touched the bat the lay between them.   
“Then I guess I’ll just have to go a couple of innings with his head.”  
Toby wanted to laugh at what she said until he looked into her eyes. They had hardened but he could read the intent behind them as clearly as if he were reading a book. She was being serious; he had no doubt in his mind about that.   
“Now I almost feel bad for him,” he joked a little uncomfortably. “The Terminator’s got nothing on you sis.”  
Sarah’s smile widened but it didn’t reach her eyes. They remained hard and determined. Her demeanor alarmed him. He always viewed her as a kind and compassionate sister (at least she was with him) and knew she would protect him no matter what, but after listening to her speak about bashing Jareth’s head in he saw a different side of her. The ferocity and resolution of her statement unnerved him. He never really considered the idea that Sarah would actually have to physically defend him. What kind of a chance did she stand against a being like Jareth? The thought of her fighting the Goblin King made him squeamish. Surely she realized the peril she would be in but Sarah seemed unwavering in the course of action she would take. He couldn’t bear the thought of her being in danger.  
“Sarah,” he spoke with as much gravity as a seventeen year old could muster, “I want you to promise that if things go…badly tonight that you won’t do anything that’ll get you hurt.” He looked at her fervently, trying to impart the urgency of his request. “I could never live with myself if something happened to you. If he shows up, I want you to run. Don’t worry about me, just get out of here; don’t let him get you. Promise me that you will.”  
For a moment he thought she might acquiesce to his plea. Sarah’s look softened, just for a second, then her expression steeled again.   
“I can’t do that Toby,” she told him impassively. “I won’t desert you. Don’t you get that? I will never just leave you to that monster. Whatever happens, we’re in this together.”  
He could tell that there was no reason arguing with her. There was nothing he could say that would change her mind. A wave of relief came over him despite his worry for her safety, that he wouldn’t be alone should his time come. She would be there with him, no matter what. Overcome with emotion, he lurched forward and embraced her with all his strength.  
“I’m glad you’re here with me Sarah,” his throat had tightened making his voice raspy. “I’m glad I won’t be alone when, if –” he choked, unable to finish his sentence.  
Sarah drew him close to her and stroked his hair.   
“Shhh, Toby, it’s okay,” she cooed to him. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” She held him, running her fingers though his blonde hair, comforting him. He could have stayed like that forever, soothed and safe in his sister’s arms, but then she began to withdraw and pull away from him.   
“Listen to me Toby,” she cradled his face in her hands as she spoke to him. “I won’t let anyone hurt you but you got to help me. If Jareth does show up, you stay close to me. Don’t let him separate us.” Her voice was calm but her green eyes expressed the importance of her words. He nodded his head in understanding.   
She went on, “And stay behind me, don’t give him a straight shot at you.”  
“But what about you?”  
“You don’t worry about me,” she rebuffed. “He has no power over me so he can’t do anything to me but with any luck, I’ll be able to do a whole lot to him.”  
As he listened to her plan a sense of uselessness blanketed him. He couldn’t stand the thought of Sarah taking all these risks for him while he hid behind her skirts. It was more than his teenaged male ego could cope with.  
“Isn’t there something I can do to help?”   
“Not if what the Domina said about you not being able to go against him is true,” she reasoned. She shook her head, rejecting his entreaty. “No Tobes, the best thing you can do is stick close to me and keep your head down.”  
Toby didn’t like it but realized he had no other choice than to comply with his sister. He felt like a helpless little kid.  
Almost unbidden, a memory from his past resurfaced.  
“Hey Sarah, do you remember the time when that Brunner kid pushed me off the slide at the park?”   
She gaped at him for a few seconds at his sudden reverse.   
“Yeah, I remember that. He knocked you over and you scraped your elbow.”  
Toby clearly recalled the incident. It was an early summer day when Chris Brunner shoved him out of the way at the slide. He was crying when Sarah helped him up and brushed the playground mulch off of him. She wiped his eyes with the end of her sweater and then went to scold the other boy.  
“Do you remember what you said to him?”  
Sarah got a puckish grin on her face.   
“I told him that nasty little kids that push other little kids are carried off by the goblins and get nothing to eat but onions and cabbage. I said if he ever pushed anyone else that they would come drag him off and throw him in a dungeon where they belong.”  
Toby shared her grin. He could remember the scared look on Chris Brunner’s face when she confronted him. He never bothered Toby after that.  
“You know, you always were standing up for me.”  
Pride swept across her face and she gave his cheek a little pinch.  
“That’s what big sisters do,” she told him with a wink.  
And so it went, the two of them sat on the couch talking as the clock on the opposing wall measured time. They talked about when they were younger, all the good times they shared: Christmases, birthdays, lazy summer afternoons, anything to keep their minds off the looming deadline. And the happy chatter seemed to work, initially. But in spite of all the fond memories about days of yore, time continued to quickly dwindle away until it was a quarter after two. By that time, both siblings were watching the clock and becoming more restless by the second.   
The television had been turned off long ago and all was quiet in the apartment except their voices. Toby was telling Sarah about how he and Shane had reconciled earlier that week but he was having a harder time concentrating than before. He nervously glanced at the clock: two-twenty.   
‘Oh God,’ he thought ‘Only three more minutes left! Please let the spell work, please let me see my mom and dad again, oh please, oh please, oh PLEASE, OH PLEASE –’  
Just then, Sarah’s eyes widened in horror.  
“What was that?” she said in a frightened hush.  
Toby froze but his senses burst to life, extending beyond his body trying to detect any perceivable threat. His ears strained, listening.  
There it was again! This time he heard it, a low, ominous rumbling. It was almost like hearing far off thunder on a sunny day. His heart skipped a beat and his throat went dry. Panic was setting in.  
“Sarah –”  
“Quiet!” she ordered. She grabbed up the baseball bat that had been lying between them and shifted it into her right hand. “Remember what I said: Stay close to me and don’t –”  
At that point the lights in the apartment flickered.   
His heart nearly exploded from his chest.   
He leapt up from the couch but as fast as he was, Sarah was even faster. She brought the bat up in a defensive stance, her head swiveling wildly in all directions searching for danger. Toby was mimicking his sister, trying to discern where the threat would come from. They were alone in the living room but his intuition told him that they wouldn’t be for long. By a whim of fate, his eyes landed on the now flashing timer on her DVD player. It was blinking 2:22.  
“This is it Toby!” Her voice was rising in alarm, “THIS IS IT! KEEP BEHIND ME –”   
The lights flickered again and then all was dark.  
Several things happened at once.   
Sarah left out a scream which caused him to jerk and ram his shin into her coffee table. Pain erupted through his leg and he stumbled from the collision, blind and disoriented. Terror had taken full control of him now and he flailed violently trying to retain his balance and ward off any attacks. Horrifying scenarios raced through his mind, shattering whatever restraint he had on his fear. This was it; he was going to die, here in the dark, in his sister’s apartment.   
A hand reached out in the darkness and caught hold of him by the front of his shirt. He let out a yelp and began struggling like a rabbit caught in a snare. Adrenaline, born from panic, seized his limbs and he fought furiously to free himself.  
“STOP IT TOBY!” His sister’s voice pierced the darkness as the hand on his shirt tightened. “IT’S ME! STOP FIGHTING!”  
Toby quit his thrashing and moved closer to the sound of her voice. Sarah released his shirt and clasped his hand in hers, pulling him behind her. He could feel trembling through their grip but wasn’t sure whether it was from her or him. They stood like that in the dark, tensed, their breaths coming rapidly, waiting for what would come next.  
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over.  
The lights in the living room came back on. Toby blinked at the unexpected brightness and his mouth gaped open in spite of himself. He was still on the alert, eyes scanning the living room for any sign of Jareth. He could see Sarah now, standing with the bat level with her shoulder, ready to swing at the first indication of trouble. She was surveying the area as well, her movements fast and jerky, eyes the size of tea saucers. Seconds pass, then a minute before he spoke.  
“What happened?” his words were low and shaky.  
Sarah didn’t answer immediately; her gaze continued scouring the room.   
“I don’t know,” she muttered tentatively. “Something’s not right. Quick Toby, what time is it?”  
His eyes darted to the clock on the wall.   
It read two 2:25am.  
“It’s two twenty-five!” he exclaimed.   
Sarah looked towards the clock. He could see the relief wash over her face. She closed her eyes, welcoming it. It would only last briefly because when she opened her eyes again, there was a suspicious glint in them.  
She took hold of Toby again, this time by the wrist, and she pulled him with her as she moved.  
“C’mon,” she whispered lowly, “Let’s go through the rest of the apartment.”  
They went through the rest of Sarah’s apartment to check for any clue to Jareth being there. At the doorway each new room, his stomach would twist in knots until she flipped the light switch and revealed the room to be empty, devoid of any Goblin King. After checking the second bedroom and coming up empty, Sarah lead them back into the living room. She examined her surroundings one last time with her back towards him.  
“I think that’s it,” she murmured thoughtfully, more to herself really than to him. “I think it worked, the spell, it worked, it really worked!” She turned an elated face to her brother. “Toby we did it, the spell worked! We beat the Goblin King! We WON!”  
It took her declaration to have it actually sink in for him. It was after two twenty-three and he was still alive!   
An aftershock of exhilaration ran through him when he realized the implication. The binding spell Sarah had preformed the day before had protected him from Jareth; his claim over him had been broken! Toby felt ecstatic giggle bubbling up inside him, ready to issue forth whether he wanted it to or not. He looked at his sister again and saw she was in a similar condition. He reached down and gave her a giant bear hug, the biggest he had ever given. Sarah flung her arms around his neck to return the hug and then he lifted her up in the air and spun her around. The two of them laughed uncontrollably like children. The smothering pressure he was under all week dissipated and he felt like he was born again! Tears of joy welled up in his eyes and when he finally put Sarah down he could see she had the same.   
Toby cracked a grin.   
“Hey, no need to be crying,” (though his cheeks were moist as well) “We won remember?”  
Sarah let out another titter of laughter and hugged him again. When she released him, she wiped the wet streaks from her face.  
“Holy crap, I can’t believe that it’s finally over!” she said with a relieved sigh. She ran her hand through her tousled hair in a calming fashion. “I mean, I thought we were in trouble when the lights went out and all, but we’re still here!”  
A little frown creased the corners of his mouth when she mentioned the lights.   
“What was the deal with that?”  
“I don’t know,” she sighed again, “Maybe it was a power outage?”  
His brows arced incredulously.  
“Do you really believe that?”  
“No,” she admitted. “I think he was trying to get in but couldn’t.”   
A shudder passed through him. If it wasn’t for the spell, the Goblin King would have crossed over and the outcome would have been far less favorable.   
He pushed those unsavory thoughts to the side. Now was a time for rejoicing.  
“Well it’s a good thing that the spell worked then, huh?” Sarah gave him an agreeing nod and his lips twisted in a joking smirk. “I mean honestly sis, I don’t know how you ever made it on a softball team. The way you were with that bat, I’m surprised you didn’t take out a couple of your lamps or something.”  
At first she gave him a dark expression but quickly gave way to amusement.   
“Well, I would have done a lot better than you would have!” she quipped, pointing the business end of the bat in his face. “You would have just stood there and wet your pants!”  
His grin stretched wider. “I think I did.”  
They both broke out into laughter at his ridiculous statement, more from relief than actual hilarity. Toby felt like he was on the top of the world! They had survived the ordeal and everything was going to be alright now. All his worries had been cleared away leaving him light as a feather. It was like waking up after a terrible sickness and feeling well again. That’s what Jareth was, a sickness, but no more because now he was free. Finally FREE!   
God it felt so good!   
.  
.  
PART 3  
.  
Toby awoke with a jump, momentarily unsure of where he was. He looked around. He was at Sarah’s place, more specifically on her couch, and on the opposite end was his sister sprawled out asleep.   
His recollection of earlier that night gradually came back to him. They had lived through the “Goblin Apocalypse” and afterwards celebrated with the rest of the Chinese food and a DVD. It was a delightfully awkward movie with David Spade in it playing a “white trash” janitor who was looking for his parents that abandoned him at the Grand Canyon. He and Sarah found it amply amusing (he particularly thought the scene where the dog’s junk froze to the porch hilarious) and had apparently fallen asleep during the movie. Obviously so had Sarah, who was slumbering with her head propped up on the arm of the couch, mouth wide open and snoring lightly. Toby imagined if he looked closely enough, he would see a little trickle of drool from her mouth.  
Toby straightened up on the couch and stretched, taking survey of room. The television was on but the screen was blue indicating that the movie was over for a good deal of time. Beside him on the couch was a spilt container of fried rice, which he knew Sarah would bounce him for when she woke up. Scooping the majority of rice into the container the best he could with his hand, he brushed the remnants off the couch. He then placed the carton on the coffee table and stood up.  
His neck ached from the way it had been laying while he was asleep and he twisted his head from side to side trying to work out the cricks. He stretched again, this time a full body stretch, extending his arms high above his head. Feeling better, he looked at the time. The clock said 5:46am. Toby looked out the window and could see the barest sliver of daylight on the horizon. He smiled. The two of them had weathered the night and the promise of a new day was dawning.   
Toby smacked his lips with his yawn and tasted the unavoidable flavor of morning breath. Deciding the best cure for the gross pastiness in his mouth was a good swig of green tea, he padded off for the kitchen to rinse his mouth.  
He pushed through the swinging kitchen door and hit the light switch. The bulb dimmed in its outlet before snuffing out, it’s filaments spent. Toby mumbled under his breath and clicked the light over the stove on instead. A warm glow spread throughout the kitchen as he walked to the sink and pulled out the glass he had used earlier then headed for her refrigerator. Pulling open the door, he grabbed the gallon of tea but before he closed it, he spotted the silver tin of a takeout container. He put the jug back, his hungry curiosity intent on the contents under the white cardboard lid. Snatching it out of the fridge, he peeled back the lid and discovered it held a type of shell pasta with chicken and a white sauce over it. His mouth immediately welled with saliva at the smell.  
Temporarily abandoning the green tea, Toby went to the cupboard and produced a plate from its shelf. He scraped the cold pasta out of its tinfoil refuge and popped it into the microwave. Trying to discern the setting buttons, Toby watched as the time display switched from 5:44am to three minutes and fifteen seconds at the push of a button. The microwave hummed to life and a light went on inside it showing his next meal turning as the glass carousal rotated below it.   
Toby went back to the fridge then to pour himself some tea. The aroma from the food was already emanating from its heating and the scent tickled his nostrils. He was just reaching the limit of his cup when a shrill beep from the microwave sounded, long before the three minutes and fifteen seconds where up.  
He turned back towards the counter, tea in hand. The humming had stopped and the light in the oven had gone out. Toby walked over to the microwave and irritably started pressing buttons, his stomach complaining about the delay in its gratification. He pushed the keypad some more until the time display lit up again and flashed 5:43am.  
Wait, five forty-three?   
He stared the digital numbers in bafflement. There must be something wrong with this crappy microwave because when he put his plate in he distinctly remembered it reading five forty-four. Now it was reading five forty-three, which was really odd because time shouldn’t go backwards, oh no, no, it goes forwards, yes that is the correct order of things, forwards not backwards –  
The microwave emitted another beep and his eyes shot back to the time display to see it change to five forty-two. He stared at the microwave in horror, as it beeped again and switched to five forty-one. The beeps then began to come more repetitively; slowly at first then faster and faster until they streamed into a steady electronic squeal. All the while, the numbers kept changing; kept getting lower, time seemingly rewinding itself until the squeal once again became distinguishable beeps. It beeped a few more times and the numbers flipped backwards once, then twice more.  
Then it settled at 2:23am.  
It took him only a second to comprehend what was happening. Time had reversed itself and it was two twenty-three again except this time he was all alone and away from Sarah…..  
‘Oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!’ his mind was blaring with alarms. Too late he realized the peril he was in. He turned to run out into the safety of the living room, to the safety of his sister, only to be confronted by the being he thought a mere few hours ago that they had bested:  
Jareth, king of the goblins.  
His glass of tea fell from his hand and splashed on the floor.  
“No,” he murmured as the horrible truth dawned upon him, “NO! This isn’t happening! WE BEAT YOU!”  
The Goblin cocked his head to the side, an enigmatic simper played upon his lips.  
“Did you now?”  
‘No, no, no, NO!’ his brain screamed, trying to deny the truth before him. ‘He can’t be here! We made it past 2:23, how can he be here now?!’  
The answer suggested itself with absurd simplicity.  
“You messed with the clocks!” he gasped in horror. “But how?”  
A thin smile graced the face of his otherwise stony enemy.   
“Manipulating time proves no hardship when one has spent an eternity practicing,” he explained, almost sounding bored. “All I needed to do was spur time forward just a bit, give it a little nudge if you will, then it was a simple matter of re-ordering it to the sequence of moments I wanted.”   
“That’s cheating!”  
Now he really did grin. He flourished his hands elaborately before him.  
“I am the Goblin King,” was all he said, as if his mere title was explanation enough.   
He took a few steps forward, his cape swishing behind him and boots echoing on the stone tile. Toby backed away from him until his butt collided with the counter, no where left to run. But instead of pushing his advantage, Jareth merely stopped in the middle of the kitchen.  
“Well, here we are young Toby, at our predestined rendezvous time. I am here, you are here, but there seems to be something missing…..” He tapped his finger to his chin and rolled his eyes upwards as if trying to recollect something important, just on the border of his memory. “Ah yes! The exchange of monies, so to speak,” –his eyes snapped to Toby’s –“Where is my payment?”  
Toby licked his lips nervously, preparing to scream for Sarah. The Goblin King anticipated his reaction.  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Jareth warned before he could utter a sound. “I would finish you before your last syllable. And really, is that what you want for dear, sweet, Sarah to see? Your crumpled body, ruined and lifeless, lying here on the ground? Do you want that?” The Goblin King tsked and shook his head somberly. “A most lamentable course of action considering I have a much better proposal for you.”  
Toby’s jaw snapped shut. He eyed his adversary warily, unsure how to answer. When he spoke, his mouth was so dry he could hardly form his words.  
“What kind of proposal?”   
Jareth gave his smile some teeth. “That’s a smart lad,” he said, as if he were praising a dog for retrieving a stick. “I knew you could be reasoned with.”   
He swirled his cape around his lean body, concealing his hands from sight. He favored Toby with a disarming gaze.  
“I am willing to renounce my claim on your person, spare your insignificant life, even restore your wishes to you,” he said in a magnanimous tone, “A most unprecedented gesture I assure you, all in exchange for you upholding your end of our deal.”   
His black cape parted revealing a brightly glowing crystal at its heart. It hovered in the air, throwing sharp contrast across the Goblin King’s face. As it dimmed and cooled, the crystal mutated into something he easily recognized. At the sight of the bracelet, Toby’s eyes turned despairing.  
“A most generous offer, I must say,” he cajoled, “The best offer you will receive this night. What say you?”  
Toby’s entire body turned numb with fear and hopelessness. There was no way he could accept this ‘generous offer’ not without completely damning himself for all eternity. He mutely shook his head in refusal.  
Jareth barely registered his declination.  
“No? Are you certain?” His expression became pervasive and his voice, slick and oily, glided across the room. “Are you positive that is the path you wish to take? A slow, painful death – agonizingly slow, oh how I can draw it out – as opposed to living out your life with everything you have dreamed of? Is this truly what you want? Think of it Toby: all can be as it was before; I can make it that way. Before the rejections, before the arguing, before your lover’s quarrel,” there was a short pause as he gave the boy a loaded gaze, “Even before that poor girl’s unfortunate accident. All that once was, I can restore. All I ask of you is to give me what I desire. And really, it is such a small thing. It is as simple as going into the other room and slipping the bangle on her delicate wrist even as she sleeps. That is it. That is all I ask of you. Fulfill your side of our bargain and you shall be rewarded beyond your imagination.”  
Jareth’s persuasions twined their way through his brain, taking root in his psyche. His words had a hypnotic effect on Toby. His offer was generous, he could not deny it. It would be as if the whole terrible week he had just gone through had never happened! Everything would be like it was before, his scholarships, his parents, him and Angie, even Maggie!   
His mind raced at the thought. If he could bring Maggie back, his sins would be atoned for, his conscience wiped clean. Redemption was within his grasp. A seductive voice whispered in the back of his head. Didn’t he owe it to Maggie and her family to fix things if he could? Wasn’t it almost his duty? Surely it was an honorable cause, worthy of the cost. And if she knew what was at stake, Sarah would want him to save his friend, he felt sure of it. It’s nothing less than what she would do, he reasoned, she would be proud of him for doing it! And he could do it, he could save Maggie. All that he had to do was what Jareth asked of him.  
All he had to do was sacrifice the one person who would do anything to protect him.  
The rationale he had built up in his mind dissolved like a snowflake on the back of his hand.   
“NO!” he practically shouted, rousing himself from the stupor that Jareth’s voice had lolled him into. “I won’t let you pull me back into your plot again! I don’t care what you do to me but you’re not getting Sarah!” Toby drew himself up to his full height, his righteousness giving him courage. “You failed Goblin King. All your scheming and all your conniving didn’t work. I will NEVER betray my sister to you again!”  
At Toby’s declaration, all the temptations and illusions the Goblin King had been weaving came crashing down around him and Toby could finally see the truth. He wasn’t a genie or fairy godfather using his powers to grant wishes and make dreams come true. He was a fiend, twisted by his own corruptions, feeding on the unsuspecting to achieve his own diabolical goals.  
The Goblin King’s face contorted in a fierce grimace at his uncovering. His eyes burned brightly with hate and his hand snapped sharply upwards towards Toby, unquestionably to deliver his death blow.   
Jareth’s teeth flashed savagely and his voice dripped with malice.  
“Noble to the end.”  
Toby tensed in dreaded anticipation for Jareth’s retribution. His last coherent thought was of a lithe girl with honey brown hair and sapphire blue eyes sprinting across the field hockey pitch in the warm summer afternoon.  
Then the pain began.  
.  
.

PART 4  
.  
The pain started in his stomach and quickly radiated to the rest of his body.  
Toby screamed and collapsed to the ground, writhing as the pain coursed through him. He curled up on the floor, as spasm after spasm wracked his body. Jareth was above him, observing the tortured boy. He glanced briefly at his sneering face and then closed his eyes as he felt every bone in his body snapping and breaking then bending to reform itself anew. Every nerve screamed as his muscles detached then stitched themselves to the freshly formed bones. He tried to scream again but all that came out was a guttural grunt. He looked at his gnarled hands, watching the bones pop and knit together underneath a coarse hide that was developing on his arms. Panting heavily, he pleaded for help.  
“Oh God help me –” Toby moaned in pain.  
“Are you praying?” Jareth mocked, spreading his arms wide and gazing heavenward. “Does he hear you? Has he ever heard you any of those times in the past?” Jareth clapped his hands together and laughed mirthlessly as he spun on his heel and gave Toby his back.  
“Little Toby Williams, how I loved listening to your prayers night after night as you groveled to your silent god. He may not have been listening, but I was. It is so easy to manipulate your kind through your diluted manner of praying. Prayers to you humans are not composed to praise a higher being so much as to express your covetousness. It has been reduced to its basest form of I want, I want. From there, it is a mere twist of the tongue to I wish, I wish.” He whirled back to the tortured boy, his face shining with sinister delight. “And that is where I come in.”  
He walked over to where Toby squirmed on the floor in agony, his black boots clicking on the floor with each step.   
“Was it your god that answered your “prayer” those many years ago when you lie weeping in your bed? No, it was I. It was no lofty deity that answered your call, but the king of the goblins, who was kind enough to grant your wish.”  
He looked down at Toby, unaffected by his suffering. He leaned down towards him.   
“Did you really think you could curry my favors without paying the price? That you could take my gifts, and then renege on your part of our bargain without there being retribution?” His face warped into a hateful mask, “No one cheats the Goblin King. I will have my price one way or the other.”  
Toby clutched himself in pain. He felt his stomach churning and lurching until finally he vomited its contents upon the floor. Unable to control his spasms, he convulsed and wrenched in his own refuse.   
Jareth remained unfaltering.  
“See how well your wishes have served you?” the Goblin King hissed as he bent closer to the boy, his face awash with evil glee. “Tell me Toby, how does it feel to get everything you wished for?”  
If Jareth expected an answer, he was going to be disappointed. Toby’s mouth fell open, not to speak, but to accommodate his swollen tongue. It flopped grotesquely from between his teeth and like the rest of his body, had no control of its actions. It coiled and lashed about in convulsions all its own as his jaw cracked and separated. His face was becoming distorted. He could feel his cheeks sinking back in his head and his brow thickening and protruding. His eyes bulged almost to the point of bursting from his skull.   
It was at this point he accepted the inevitability of his demise. Even if Jareth ceased his ministrations, surely by now his body was beyond any sort of repair and would give out on him before long. The realization wasn’t as terrible as he had once thought, certainly not as horrible as what he was going through right then. Wrapping himself in that one irrefutable outcome, Toby closed his eyes, continued to clench his sides and prayed for the end to come soon.  
His prayers were interrupted when his sister burst into the kitchen wielding the baseball bat.  
“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”   
She swung the bat at the Goblin King, putting all her might into it. It appeared that her aim would prove true to its mark but at the last second, Jareth gracefully side stepped the blow. Sarah was pulled nearly in a full circle from the force of the missed swing.  
Toby observed the scene through pain hazed eyes. Sarah had recovered and was facing off in front of the Goblin King, brandishing her weapon before her. He could only see the side of Jareth’s face from his vantage point and he was, amazingly enough, smiling.  
“Ah Sarah, how good of you to join us,” he drawled at her.  
Sarah said nothing just took another swing at his head. He pivoted out of her reach again, easily avoiding the bat. She swung again with the same outcome, the bat coming within scant inches of his flickering cape.   
And so they went around the kitchen in a lethal kind of dance, with Sarah leading. Every time she would take a swing, he would slip just barely out of her reach, the bat meeting with only air. The situation seemed futile and it appeared that her attempts were in vain but with each swing she took, Toby could see she was steering him, blocking him from breaking into the open. Inevitably Sarah managed to navigate him into a corner, the only retreat guarded by her.   
He was trapped.   
Sarah swung the bat with all her strength.   
From his doubled up position on the floor, Toby watched for the impact. The bat arced towards his head, intending to spray his brains across the walls but before it could meet its intended target, Jareth’s hand shot out, so swiftly Toby barely saw him move, and caught the bat in midair with his right hand.  
Shocked, she tried to yank it away from his powerful grip, her face scared and bewildered.  
Jareth’s face was lit with bemusement.  
“Oh Sarah, do you mean to hurt me with this little twig?”  
His grip tightened and Toby could hear the wood cracking and splintering as he crushed the bat in his hand. Sarah released it as if it were on fire, stepping away from him as she did. Jareth dropped the bat to the floor, now nothing more than a small pile of kindling.  
She backed up slowly, her eyes wide and aghast. She quickly realized she underestimated her adversary.  
Sarah shook from fear. This wasn’t the Jareth she remembered from her childhood. She had seen Jareth the trickster, Jareth the bully, Jareth the seducer. Now the veil had been lifted and she could see him for what he truly was; a lethal, unrelenting force of nature.  
It was a fatal oversight, one that would cost her dearly.   
At last, Sarah found her voice again.  
“But the book said ash could kill you –”   
His lips stretched into a red slash across his ethereal face.  
“Ah, I see both you and your brother labor under the impression that you must believe everything you read. It must be a family trait.”  
He took a step towards her that she mirrored by taking one backwards away from him. He stopped his advance in lieu of appraising her instead. Clasping his hands behind his back, he languidly let his eyes roam over her, drinking in every curve and rise of her body. She involuntarily winced under the weight of his stare, which made his grin widen.  
“So, finally, our paths cross again!” he exclaimed, sounding genuinely delighted. His face burnished with dark joy. “I was beginning to worry that fate was working against me but here we are at last! Not under the most desirable of circumstances to be sure, but Sarah,” his tongue sampled her name and found it pleasing, “How good it is to see you again, in the flesh that is.”   
Sarah’s face was devoid of any emotion while he spoke.  
“Pity I can’t say the same,” came her dry remark.  
Jareth shrugged, his cloak rippling like dark water with his movement. He smiled nonchalantly. “Sadly, I cannot account for what you would say Sarah but all the same, it gives me great pleasure.”   
A light sparked behind his eyes and his demeanor shifted, ever so slightly, but it was enough to set her teeth on edge. He gave her a sly, knowing look.  
“My most precious thing, what have you and this traitorous boy been plotting?” he purred dangerously. Another step forward countered by another step back. “Setting traps, conversing with soothsayers, casting spells.”   
Sarah’s eyes widened at his mention of their trip to the Domina’s residence.   
“Oh yes, I know of your little visit to the spell caster” he spat out the words as if leaving a bad taste in his mouth. With more constraint, he continued in a less venomous tone. “I thought I might be in trouble until you said you’d bind me with my good conscience.”   
Jareth stretched his hands out in front of him, showing her the underside of his wrists. His fingers were curled into fists, as if he were offering her a secret gift hidden in one of them. Slowly, he unfurled his fingers, revolving his hands as he did. Two lengths of string unraveled from his palms and fell unceremoniously to the floor.   
“That was very naughty of you Sarah,” his voice was laced with mockery and his eyes glittered as he spoke. “I will have to punish you for it.”  
The ridicule in his voice and the mention of punishment halted her retreat and steeled her resolve. Stubbornly, she held her ground, not willing to be pushed any further. With her chin tilted indignantly and a fearless countenance, she squared off against her unearthly foe.  
“You don’t scare me Goblin King,” she sneered at him defiantly. “YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME!”  
Jareth halted dead in his tracks, a half snarl forming on his face. An intense loathing infiltrated his features making his gaze cold and merciless. Her words arrested him, compelled him with their intent, but the Goblin King wasn’t defeated yet. He had one more card to play.   
“That may be true,” he hissed out from behind sharp teeth, “But I do have considerable power over your brother.”  
Sarah gasped loudly as she remembered her brother sprawled on the floor in seeming anguish.  
“TOBY!”   
She rushed past Jareth who did nothing to hinder her flight. He remained motionless, only watching her from over his shoulder. She knelt down beside her sibling, taking no notice of the dampness on the floor. Up until this point, Toby had tried to remain quiet and still, so not to divert her attention during her conflict with Jareth, but now he could not hold his silence any longer. He screamed in pain as she reached out her hand and touched his upper arm in an attempt to comfort him. Sarah quickly snatched her hand back, unwilling to cause him anymore discomfort. She cast a desperate look up at Jareth.   
“What are you doing to him?” she demanded, voice brimming with worry and frustration.  
The Goblin King turned towards her, unconcerned about her distress.   
“Merely taking what is mine,” he stated simply.  
As if by cue, Toby screamed again.  
“Leave him alone, you’re hurting him!” she yelled at him. Her hands hovered above his body, unable to touch him for fear of causing him more pain. “Jareth, STOP IT!”  
He gave her an evil grin.  
“I am afraid I cannot. You see, his payment came due and he had nothing which to pay me. So now he belongs to me.”   
He waved his hand and added flippantly, “Besides, the change has already begun.”  
Sarah’s face was one of confused shock.  
“Change? Into what?”  
“Why into a goblin of course! And what an exceptional goblin he will be! I believe I will take personal care of this one. I shall make him my privy scrubber or perhaps my boot cleaner,” he paused to relish the horror he was inflicting.   
Sarah paled at his words, all color draining from her face as if someone pulled out the stopper.   
His eyes sparkled with wicked amusement.   
“Why so forlorn dear heart? As long as he is obedient and submits, he need not suffer in dumb anguish. Besides he might like being a goblin.”   
“Oh God no,” she muttered distractedly, here eyes vacant of all emotion except dread.   
Toby screamed again and twisted in pain, as he was afflicted with agonizing sensations. Without being able to look down to confirm it, he could feel his body crumbling, diminishing into that of a stunted humanoid.   
Sarah could also tell what was happening and it lent urgency to her supplications. “Stop it! Just leave him be!  
He sighed unrepentantly. “Alas, as I have told you, I cannot.”  
“If you can’t stop it then pause it or –slow it down!” she pleaded desperately. She rose from where she had been kneeling. In her panic, she took a step towards him before she regained control of herself. She stopped and looked beseechingly at him.   
“Please Jareth! I’m begging you!”  
An indiscernible shadow crossed his face but then was quickly gone, replaced with a shrewd smirk.  
Jareth gestured towards Toby and the teenager could feel the changes to his body slowing. He was still in a great deal of pain only now it wasn’t engulfing him as swiftly as it was. He wasn’t sure if that was entirely a good thing.   
“As you please,” he said in an offhand manner. “But Sarah, I’m afraid you’re not doing your brother any favors by drawing this out. The transformation is a rather excruciating experience. Best to let him get it over with quickly.”  
His apathy over the situation caused her to snap.   
“You bastard!” she lashed out at him, her light frame trembling with fury. “Why couldn’t you leave him alone? He was only a child when he made that wish! He had no idea what he was doing and you just waltzed in and took advantage of him –”  
“Ignorance is no defense,” he interrupted harshly. “As for my ‘waltzing in’ as you so eloquently put it, we both know I only come where I am invited. Your ancestors’ guardians made it so when they imprisoned me long ago.”  
He scowled in contempt, his lips twisting in a bitter smile. His voice turned icy.  
“For centuries I languished in that accursed land, bound to it, unable to take vengeance upon my enemies. But even as I endured, I knew I could rely on mankind’s avarice to deliver me. I was not disappointed.”  
Jareth tipped his head in Toby’s direction as evidence. From his position on the floor, he could see his sister bristle under the Goblin King’s implication.   
Jareth laughed; the sound made Toby ill.  
“I knew I could use your kind’s foolish wishes to gain a foothold back into this world. All I need do was perform some cheap parlor tricks and grant their insipid desires.”   
“Preyed on people’s dreams is more like it!” she spat at him angrily.  
Jareth overlooked her outburst and continued.  
“Yet still I remained a guest in this world, confined by the magic cast upon me by my foes. But time had become my greatest ally; eroding away their spells and diminishing belief in the archaic religions. The old ones that have kept me at bay are all dead now, and none remember the ancient ways. There are lingering shamans here and there that secretly work against me from entering your world but are easily disposed of once I uncover them. I should thank you for un-nesting that particularly tiresome witch for me. She has been meddling in my affairs for years. As for that little nightmare of a girl,” his tone shifted, becoming a velvety threat, “I will teach her not to trifle with the Goblin King.”  
Sarah recoiled in stunned horror at his mention of their cousin.  
“You leave Kaitlin alone!”   
Jareth smiled at her graciously. With an elegant flourish of his cloak, he gave her a neat little bow, peering mischievously at her through his golden strands of hair.  
“Because my lady asks it, no harm shall befall the girl.” He straightened, his eyes gleaming wickedly. “But truly Sarah, that is the extent of my generosity for this evening. If you wish any other boons from me, you will have to pay for it like everyone else.”  
Sarah’s ears perked up and she jumped on his words, eyes alight with hope. A plan began to form.   
“Very well,” she ventured, “I would like to negotiate terms with you for the release my brother.”  
“What, now that you have no more curses to ply me with?” he goaded.  
She ignored his taunt.   
“You like making deals Goblin King, what will it take to save my brother?” she baited him.  
His gaze turned lascivious. “What are you offering?”  
“I’ll run the Labyrinth again,” she suggested. “If I beat it, you change Toby back and never come after him again.”  
The corners of his mouth twitched upwards.  
“And if you lose?”  
Sarah stared at him silently, not willing to discuss the alternative.  
Jareth strolled towards Sarah and around her; her body turned in pace with his as if they were choreographing dance steps.  
“Let me see if I am grasping this correctly,” he drawled, rubbing his chin in consideration. “You want me to let you gallivant through my Labyrinth again in order to win your darling brother back from me?”   
His mocking voice was infuriating to her but she kept her temper in check, hoping he would take her offer. She pursed lips. “Yes.”  
He smirked at her.  
“Not interested.”  
Sarah’s jaw dropped.  
“Why not? You did last time!”   
Jareth gave her an indulgent look.   
“These are completely different circumstances than last time,” he explained with amused exasperation. “Last time, you wished your brother away; through no fault of the lad’s own I must add. This time he gave himself willingly to me when he failed to fulfill his side of our bargain.”   
She pressed on, refusing to give up.  
“I’ll do it in nine hours this time.”  
“No.”  
“Seven hours then,” she badgered him.  
“Enough Sarah,” he cut in irritably. “I would not accept your offer if you were to attempt it in seven minutes. You running my Labyrinth serves no purpose to me and therefore I will not agree to it.”  
With a burst of frustrated anger, she snapped at him.  
“What do you want then?”  
Jareth’s face was inscrutable but Toby recognized that look. His brain worked sluggishly through his pain, trying to recall when he saw it. Finally he placed it.   
It was the same look he had given Toby when he promised to give Jareth whatever he wanted in exchange for his third wish.  
The Goblin King fixed her with a penetrating stare. When he spoke, his voice was low and silky.   
“You know very well what I want Sarah.”  
Toby saw his sister’s jaw tighten at his response. Her throat rippled as she swallowed.   
“That’s never going to happen.”  
Jareth dismissed her refusal with a flick of his hand. “So be it,” he sighed lazily. “Then your brother belongs to me.”  
Sarah drew herself up, rigid and incensed. Her hands flexed into fists and her face flushed with anger.   
“But that’s not fair!” she protested, invoking her motto from long ago.  
The effect of her words was swift and frightening. His face became livid and his body animated with fury. He took several menacing steps towards her which sent Sarah scampering in retreat. He glared at her angrily.   
“Fair? Fair? You want to debate what is fair little one?” his voice boomed as he towered before her, enraged. “Very well precious thing,” he sneered at the frightened girl, “Consider my basis of comparison before you bemoan the injustice of it.”  
“Sixteen years ago, a spoiled child,” Sarah prickled at his depiction of her. Jareth noticed and grinned broadly. “A spoiled child called upon me for the favor of relieving her of a rather irksome baby. You called to me, not merely by wish but by title, and I answered. I did what you asked yet it was not enough for you was it Sarah? You wanted excitement. You wanted adventure. You wanted to play hero in your own little fairy tale. It was my whim to humor you, so I set you the challenge of running my Labyrinth to rescue your brother.”  
He scoffed at himself. “I would have been far kinder to myself had I just murdered the babe and left you weeping in your parents’ bedchamber where I found you.”  
The callousness of his statement sent shivers down her spine.  
“I decided to let you have your little quest. It was my intention to let you wander aimlessly throughout my Labyrinth until your time ran out and then I would have two souls for the price of one. Yet something happened that I had not intended. My senses abandoned me and I found myself bewitched by this slip of a girl that I had let enter my realm. So much so that I rejoiced when she overcame all obstacles that confronted her.”  
His eyes filled with longing as he continued in a hushed tone.  
“I was captivated by you, heart and soul. I thought you might be the one to break the crushing loneliness of my exile. So I sent you beautiful dreams of how it would be if you would only stay with me and let me rule you.” His face was swathed in reverent need. “You would have wanted for nothing; I would have given you everything, no request to great, had you just accepted.  
But you destroyed all that when you spoke those six damnable words.”  
His expression hardened and bitterness entered his voice.  
“Then you left me. You trotted home with your baby brother to live your petty little life while I was left behind, trapped and alone. You turned my world upside down then left me to pick up the pieces.  
Years passed and I tried to force myself to forget you. After all who are you to command so much of my attention? It was a disgrace that my head might be turned by one such as you. Yet, despite your unworthiness, I was drawn to you, had presented to you a gift, an honor, beyond your station and comprehension! I offered it to you practically on bended knee and you spurned me! I the Goblin King, a being of the most ancient and noble race, should be brought low by a mere wisp of a girl! It was not to be endured.”  
He paused to collect himself before continuing on.  
“However, there was nothing I could do, not after you banished me with your words, and I couldn’t possibly expect you to make the same mistake twice. But I knew there was another way. I knew that some day the boy would make a wish, something I could twist to my advantage that would allow me return. All I had to do was watch and wait.”  
He gave a sideways glance to where Toby laid, groaning in a broken heap, on the kitchen floor. His lips curled in satisfaction.   
“So I bided my time, waiting for the moment when I might once again be freed to enter your life as before. I can assure you, my love, the wait has been most unbearable, even for one as eternal such as myself but finally, we meet again! Not unlike that stormy night those many years ago. Though this time dearest, the tide has turned. There is no Labyrinth for you to defeat to redeem your brother. This time Sarah, it is I, not you, who shall triumph.”   
Jareth sneered at her, much of his casual viciousness returning to him.  
“So the decision is yours my dear Sarah. Come away with me this very night or your brother is mine forever,” he concluded. “Stay or go, make your choice. Personally, I would much rather have a queen than another goblin but what a fine consolation prize he will make, the brother of the Champion of the Labyrinth!”   
Sarah blanched at his words, her heart sinking to her feet. She was trapped, like a fly in a spider’s web.   
Sensing her weakness, Jareth prowled towards her, like a wolf closing in for the kill. He stood before her, with the fatal beauty of an angel of death.  
“What is it going to be Sarah?” he whispered. “Tick tock, tick tock.”  
Her mind worked frantically trying to find a way out, an escape, from his ultimatum but drew a blank. Hopelessness flooded every corner of her being. Her eyes blinked rapidly, fighting back her tears, but it was too late. They came forth, blurring her vision and wetting the corners of her eyes. She cast her gaze to the floor, not wanting him to see her face.   
“Why me?” she mouthed sadly, as tears trickled down her cheeks.   
The Goblin King was silent, as he stared at the dejected girl. He took another step closer then reached out with his right hand to cup her chin gently. The tenderness of the act shocked her but she couldn’t move, her feet rooted to their spot. He lifted her face until her wet eyes met his.  
With a gloved hand he wiped her tears away with his thumb, a rueful smile played on his lips. His face softened from one of wicked joy to yearning.  
“Because no one in a thousand years spoke with as much faith, as much conviction that you did,” he explained. He brought his left hand up and laid it on the side of her face. “You bent me to your will with your mere words and then you left me, weakened and alone, without even so much as a ‘by your leave’. I knew then that no matter the cost, no matter how long, I would never rest until I had you by my side.” He cupped her face in his hands and looked deeply in her eyes.   
Sarah stayed still through his impassioned confession even as her heart beat furiously in her chest. Staring into his eyes, she could see the devout ardor in their depths but peering beyond, she could see even deeper than that, the remorseless want. A want that was devoid of mercy or pity, a want that was capable of terrible things.  
Even murder.  
She quickly stepped back just out of his reach, needing to be away from him. His hands momentarily hung in the air where her face once was before dropping back to his sides. She angrily brushed the tears from her cheeks and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.  
“You caused all this pain, destroyed all those lives just to get to me?” she accused him.   
He shrugged, unconcerned. “What are they to you and I? When you are my queen and the worlds lay at your feet, what happened here will matter little.”  
“They were human beings! They didn’t deserve what you did to them!”  
Warning flashed across his face. His tone was hollow.  
“What I did, I did for love of you.”   
“Or maybe it’s just because you don’t like to lose,” she retorted coldly.  
A wicked smirk.   
“Maybe that’s it. But for whatever the reason my beloved Sarah, here we are now and the ball is – how do they put it? – in your court.”  
Sarah glared fiercely at the sneering Goblin King. The image of the two of them like that, facing off against each other, was as extraordinary as seeing winter beside summer. Sarah with her arms wrapped tightly around herself, face impassable, standing across from the imposing figure of the Goblin King. Toby would always remember that visage of his sister.   
Sarah was quiet for a long while. When she spoke her voice sounded faltering.  
“If I agree, will you change Toby back?”  
He arched his brows. “Are we striking a new bargain Sarah?” he teased.   
She raised her chin determinedly. “Yes.”  
His face gave an involuntary twitch.  
“Very well. Then, yes.”  
“And you promise you’ll take back the claim you have on my brother and never come after him again?”   
Jareth gave her a toothy grin. “For you precious, I would relinquish a thousand claims.”  
Sarah was still, face blank, considering the bargain she and Jareth just outlined and its results. After a few moments, she dragged in a deep breath.   
“Very well Goblin King, I accept.”  
Victory shone from his eyes. His mouth stretched broadly across his face in a lupine smile.   
“Then all that remains is to seal the deal.”  
Toby watched as Jareth reached up and plucked a shimmering crystal out of thin air. The sight of the shining orb sent Toby into a panic.  
He cried out to her trying to warn her against what she was about to do but all that came out was garbled shrieks and grunts. Sarah turned towards her brother to see what was distressing him. He couldn’t let her do it; he couldn’t let her throw away her life for his! Pushing with his knobby hands he tried to raise himself from the floor but only managed lifting his upper torso about a foot or so before he collapsed. Sarah gasped loudly and hurried to her brother’s side. She rolled him over so he could face her; her touch causing agony to shoot through his vulnerable body. He looked up at her with bulbous eyes as he worked his mouth around his new tongue in a vain attempt to create speech.   
“No, don go Sawah!” His words were slurred and clumsy. “Please don go! Dis is all maw fault!” Big, salty tears splashed out on his rough cheeks as he howled in misery.  
Sarah looked down at her brother with loving eyes and a sad smile. She caressed his cheek with her hand trying to comfort him. He flinched back the pain, not wanting the contact to cease.   
“Oh no Toby, no, it’s not your fault,” she consoled, her tone motherly. “It’s mine. I brought all this about when I made that stupid wish all those years ago. I’ve been running from it ever since. I always knew that I’d have to pay for it, and I don’t mind paying for it, really I don’t. I’m just glad I got to spend as much time with you that I did.”  
Her eyes were filled with tears and resignation.   
The image of her kneeling next to him, grief and sadness marring her beautiful face, still haunts him to this day.  
Leaning down, she placed a tender kiss on his cheek. She whispered in his ear.  
“I love you Toby.”  
She arose from her position beside her brother and turned back towards the Goblin King who had silently witnessed the whole display. She stood straight and dignified, jaw set stubbornly and eyes fearless. She spoke with a firm and concise voice:  
“I’m ready now.”  
Jareth floated the gleaming crystal towards her. It delicately parted the air and came to rest in Sarah’s waiting palm. It glowed brightly upon contact then dimmed revealing a silver bracelet resting where the crystal once was. Fear and apprehension sprung into her eyes and she hesitated. Finally, holding her breath, she closed her eyes and clasped the bracelet around her wrist.  
The effect was instantaneous.  
The bracelet exploded with light, so bright that it hurt Toby’s extremely sensitive eyes and Sarah had to turn her head away. A whip made of luminance lashed out capturing her other wrist, wrapped around it then pulled it tight with the other one. Instantly, the bright strand of light becomes a brilliant chain that streaked through the air into the eager hand of the Goblin King, his face aglow with streaming light and fierce rapture, his laugh cracking through the room.   
Sarah let out a yelp. She pulled and twisted against her bonds, trying to regain her freedom. The thin chain bucked loose and taut but did not break.   
Too late did she realize the true meaning of their bargain.  
Jareth leered triumphantly.   
“Try as you might, those chains will not break Sarah,” his voice was all sinister amusement. “They are made with your tears and sweat that your brother was so kind to bestow to me.”  
Sarah stared at him wildly, animalistic fear coursing through her. She bared her teeth at him, making her look more feral.  
“I WILL NEVER STOP FIGHTING YOU!” she screamed at him defiantly.  
He chuckled at her spirit.  
“Such bravery and fire, I knew I had chosen correctly.”  
With a sharp tug, Jareth pulled the struggling Sarah towards him. The chain, responding to its master’s command, rapidly shortened and Sarah staggered unwillingly to the Goblin King. He embraced her; all the while she squirmed in his arms, pushing against his chest with her bound hands. She was still writhing when he pulled her head back slightly with a tight fist in her hair. He gazed hungrily at her face, his eyes burning with desire. He parted his lips; his voice was low and rough.  
“My precious thing –”  
That was all he said before his mouth took hers. He kissed her deeply, drinking in her taste. His right arm pulled her tighter against him, stilling her struggles, while his left one tilted her head for better access to her mouth. His teeth nipped her bottom lip, drawing blood and causing her to cry out.  
“Why squeal so, precious thing?” he reproved, his eyes trained on her lips as a fleck of blood welled to the surface. His hand traveled lower down her back causing her to shudder prettily. He smiled suggestively, “After all we have only just begun.”  
Sarah opened her mouth in protest but before she could make a sound, he was there, drawing her back into another kiss. He stroked her hair as if it were made from finely spun silk as he kissed her over and over again, murmuring dark promises to her between kisses. Sarah was gasping and breathless when he broke the kiss, leaving her mouth in favor of the sensitive skin along her neck, licking and feathering it with light kisses.   
“Ah how I’ve yearned for this my precious thing,” he whispered hotly in her neck. “I have waited eons for you.”  
She let out a broken sob.  
“Don’t call me that! My name is Sarah!”  
“No my love, you are who I say you are,” he corrected her. “And the names I shall bestow upon you!” His mouth roamed up her neck to the hinge of her jaw, pressing kisses on her flushed skin.   
“Wife, queen, lover,” his lips move to her ear. He smiled.  
“Mother.”  
She choked back a cry.   
The Goblin King released her hair in favor of running his hand along her neck, dipping towards the collar of her shirt. He inhaled sharply as his fingers slipped beneath, his eyes ardent with purpose. Sarah gasped at the intrusion. Incited by the sound, he leaned her back for another kiss but she deftly turned her face, dodging his lips.   
“Jareth!”  
He pulled back from her, looking at her with curious puzzlement.  
“Please Jareth, my brother….”   
His hand returned to her face, stroking her skin as it went. He ran a finger down her jaw line pausing to gently grip her chin. Looking into her damp eyes, he smiled wistfully at her.   
“Ah yes, your tender heart.”  
Jareth withdrew his arm from around her, though kept a close hold on the shimmering chain that bound her to him. He waved his hand through the air then drew it back towards himself. Immediately, the pain Toby had been going through ceased. He could feel his limbs stretching and lengthening, his bones falling back into their original positions. His jaw and tongue shrunk back to their normal size. His brow receded and the pressure behind his eyes lessened until gone. The mottled skin that had been spreading over his body smoothed and regained its healthy color again. Within a few minutes, Toby was restored to how he was, though exhausted and aching.  
Jareth stared at the drained boy with a solemn gaze.  
“I release you from your debt and relinquish my claim on you,” his voice held the weight of the ages. “You may go forth in your life with all the gifts I have bequeathed you. Your payment has been made.”  
Toby leaned up on one elbow, too weak to go any further. He slowly lifted his head to look at the Goblin King and his sister. Happiness and relief were imprinted on her face but there was sorrow there as well.  
Jareth was behind her watching stoically. He pulled his sister to him, snaking his arm around her waist. He bent to her ear and spoke intimately to her.  
“There now my love, do you see?” his lips moved closer to her ear. “I have kept to my side of our bargain. See that you keep to yours.” He nuzzled her hair making her cringe. He spoke again to Sarah but his eyes never left Toby’s. “Say your farewells.”  
Toby opened his mouth. His voice strained as he rasped out, “No, Sarah….don’t….”  
Sarah looked piteously at her brother. She gave him a weak little smile.  
“It’s okay Toby,” she assured him. “I’ll be okay.”   
The couple began to glow signifying to Toby that their departure was near.  
Sarah realized this as well. She stumbled for words. “I’ll see you later,” she said the most natural thing in a goodbye.  
Jareth took his free hand and gripped Sarah under her chin and turned her face towards him. He stared at her possessively, his fingers sliding along the side of her face.  
“Now Sarah, we mustn’t tell lies,” he chided her with fond admonishment.  
Her brow creased as she hardened her stare. Her jaw clenched tightly, some of her fight returning.   
“You can’t keep me forever Goblin King!” she snapped.  
An amused smile graced his features as he bent his head closer to her until his forehead bumped up against hers. He gazed at her, eyes twinkling.   
“It’s only forever Sarah, not long at all,” he sing-songed to her.  
They were starting to become insubstantial but Toby could still see her reaction. She pulled back from him and looked towards her brother, face outlined by sadness.  
“Goodbye Toby,” her voice wafted back at him as they faded from sight. “Remember me.”   
And then they were gone.  
Toby lied there, stunned numb by what had had just transpired, until his body gave out from under him and he collapsed on the floor, weeping.   
He stayed like that for quite some time, sobbing inconsolably, grieving over the loss of his sister. Eventually his body reached the end of its endurance and he slipped from consciousness into darkness.  
.  
.  
PART 5  
.  
The road rose up to meet him, an endless wave of asphalt and lines.  
It was four o’clock Sunday afternoon as Toby was driving his mother’s car back home. He drove along, not making a sound, not feeling anything, just letting the inertia roll over him.  
Toby awoke five hours earlier, on Sarah’s kitchen floor, alone in the apartment. After sitting in shock for about half an hour, Toby got up, picked up the plastic cup and demolished bat from the floor and began cleaning. He cleaned up the mess he had made on the floor, washed his dishes, picked up the empty Chinese containers in the living room and threw out the flowers and herbal sachets.   
Once the apartment was cleaned and organized, Toby slipped out of his soiled clothing and dropped them in the washer. He padded naked to the bathroom and stepped into the shower. Turning the knob on hot, he let the water run over him in a desperate attempt to cleanse himself.   
After he finished his shower, he dried himself and went back out to the living room. He pulled his change of clothing out and got dressed. He returned to the bathroom, neatly hung up his wet towel and combed his hair. By then, the washer had finished and he unloaded his clothing into the dryer. There was nothing left to do but sit and wait.  
When his clothes were finally dry, he pulled them from the dryer and stuffed them into his bag. Making sure all the lights were off, he grabbed up his things and the bag of trash and headed out. The last thing he did was lock the door behind him.  
He drove for a couple of blocks, then pulled off the road by a public dumpster and dropped the garbage bag into it. The trash would be collected tomorrow; the evidence of what had happened the night before would be added to it and become more waste, rotting away in a landfill somewhere.  
And now, here he was, driving home and into a life without Sarah. He welcomed the numbness that was overwhelming him as he drove. Toby didn’t want to feel, he didn’t want to think. He just wanted to void all emotions from his being, allow himself at least that one relief, but he couldn’t vacate all thoughts from is mind. One clung to him relentlessly as he drove mile after mile, his brain repeating it over and over, incessantly, without stop:  
How am I going to get her back? 

 

THE END


End file.
